You can’t win if you can’t score. Not in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
There will be all kinds of attempts to analyze or rationalize the Penguins seven game loss to Tampa. Taken in a vacuum any and all might sound reasonable. Make no mistake however; the Penguins will be on the golf course this weekend for one reason and one reason only; their two marquee superstars were in the training room rather than on the ice.
The team put up a valiant fight without Sideny Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They showed a depth of grit and resolve that for years was hidden from view by the brilliance of their superstars. They won the respect of most intelligent fans with their spectacular effort and refusal to quit. And they nearly beat a team with superior talent and fire power in the first round of the playoffs.
Nearly.
The Penguins are built like the great Chicago Bulls teams of the 1990s, two electric superstars surrounded by a terrific collection of role players. Take Jordan and Pippen away and those Bulls go from six championships to a CBA team. Take Crosby and Malkin away and you have the last three months. That is why the Penguins became a two goal per game team without them in the line-up. And that is why a highly promising season was derailed after just one round of playoff hockey.
Before the series I stated the Penguins had to do four things to win. They had to SIGNIFICANTLY outwork Tampa, play shut down defense, forecheck the life out of them and get other worldly goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury. I also made it clear that they could do all those things and still lose. The lack of scoring punch left the Pens with zero margin for error.
Kudos to Dwayne Roloson for a solid performance and a few key saves but he stole neither game 7 nor the series as a whole. The Penguins fired a ton of shots at him few of which were of serious threat.
Game 7 was a microcosm of the entire series, and we the blue prints for it in early February. The Pens lost 1 to 0 to Washington in spite of what was arguably their best effort of the season. For my money, they dominated every aspect of play and lost for one reason, they could not score. It was that night that I came to grips with the reality of their limitations.
Game four was also a microcosm. Believe it or not, it was during that inspirational double overtime victory that I concluded the Pens were in trouble. They outplayed and outworked the Lightning by a large margin but needed 85 minutes and 53 shots to produce three grinder style goals. And with all due respect to the horrifically snake bitten James Neal, the overtime winner was a flub by Roloson.
The game four formula, plus the NHL’s gift of shootouts and points for overtime losses sustained the Penguins for the last three months of the regular season. That formula got them their three games to one lead. And frankly that formula is not sustainable. Once the Lightning realized they had only to approximate the Penguins work rate to win, the series was effectively over.
To be clear, I am neither a prophet nor a genius. I’m just an NHL history major. I watched the Lemieux/Jagr Penguins of the 90s win series exactly like this, just on the opposite end of the script. The Penguins dominated Boston and Washington in the early 90s in spite of often being outworked and outplayed. For all their hard work and grit, the Craps and Bruins of that era could not match the Pens’ superior firepower.
Go back and watch the 1992 series against Washington and you will see a virtually identical script with the Pens in Tampa’s role. The Craps outworked and outplayed the Pens for four games. With their season on the line, the Pens star players woke up, matched Washington’s effort and won the last three games. I never forgot that as I was watching Tampa’s comeback.
So when the Pens were blown off the ice in game 5, this result became sadly inevitable to me.
The loss of Crosby and Malkin is devastating for an obvious reason; you lose two game changing superstars. It also hurts for a more subtle reason; it forces everyone else to play above their normal role.
It’s one thing to ask a player or two to raise their level. Max Talbot did that in 2009 while playing wing for Geno. Without the two headed monster, the 2011 Pens asked the entire roster to work at or beyond the limits of their abilities. That’s a tall order, especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
That does not excuse the Penguins pathetic power play effort but it makes it easier to understand. The power play was not very good with Sid and Geno. It was lost without them. Is it fair to say that with 87 and 71 in the line-up they might have gone 4 for 34? Even production that poor likely would have had the Pens packing for Washington.
That also helps explain Jordan Staal’s lack of offensive production. Staal is a second line center at best. When he becomes the number one, opponents focus their top defense players on him. What separates players like Crosby is their ability to produce under such duress and we’ve still seen Detroit and Montreal shut him down. Staal is not and never will be Crosby. Keep in mind that Staal also had to pick up more penalty killing slack due to the loss of Matt Cooke.
The top four defensemen were extended beyond any reasonable measure. Between the four of them they played over 145 minutes in game four. That’s tough enough as it is but even worse when you can’t afford to allow more than two goals per game. It amazes me that some Penguin fans worshipped Rob Scuderri when Ovechkin torched him for 13 points; but ripped Letang and Martin for a superior effort.
Marc-Andre Fleury had to be virtually perfect. You could argue that Fleury was off in games 2 and 6 but remember that he was instrumental in all three victories, stole game one, and was brilliant in game 7. And the Pens as a team had little in the tank for games 2 and 5. In the end, if your only chance to win is for you goaltender to be perfect, you have no chance. Ask Henrik Lundqvist.
And for all the grit and hard work we saw, the reality is this; you can not RELY on Aaron Asham, Tyler Kennedy, and Talbot for offense. Championship teams win when these players fill valuable supporting roles and provide supplemental scoring; not when they are the key to success. You also can not rely on a wing and a prayer that Alexie Kovalev will discover the fountain of youth. The Penguins found out what we guessed and what Ottawa already knew, Kovy is done.
In the end it came to this; hard work, defense, and grit are merely prerequisites for any team winning a championship. You can not win without these things but by themselves they are not enough. The ultimate driver of championship hockey teams is superstars playing like superstars. That’s why Stanley Cups are lifted by the likes of Crosby and Malkin, Toews and Kane, Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
I remain very proud of this team, not withstanding the result. This is nothing like last year when they under achieved against an inferior Montreal team. My disappointment though profound is limited only to what might have been. When we woke up on New Years day 2011, all seemed perfect in the Penguin universe. The team was a legitimate Stanley Cup favorite. Seeing that degenerate in to under manned grinders swimming up stream was hard to watch.
Honestly, I have not felt the sadness of inevitable disappointment like this since Penn State in the 1995 Rose Bowl. It was a similarly helpless feeling of knowing that no matter how great the effort, the result would not be enough.
I said before the series that the Penguins had a championship coach, championship heart, championship defense, and a championship goalie. What they lacked without Crosby and Malkin was championship talent. I hoped what they had could overcome what they lacked for one round; ultimately that was not the case.
Alas what’s done is done.
In my never ending effort to turn lemons in to lemonade, I give you this. The Penguins role players were forced to push their games to a new level without Sid and Geno. Most if not all became better players as a result. Add Crosby and Malkin to that an you just might have a championship recipe in 2012.
ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY PENGUIN, BLESSED BE THE PENGUIN, FOR IT IS GOOD.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Hey Luongo...YOU SUCK!
I wrote the following during the 2010 Olympics, questioning why the exceptionally overrated Roberto Luongo was starting ahead of Marc-Andre Fleury for Team Canada:
http://ahaberman35.livejournal.com/12346.html
In the last two seasons, Fleury has won 30 playoff games and a Stanley Cup. He’s won two game sevens, one against the best offensive player in the game and one against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
By comparison Roberto Luongo has won…ok give me a minute…I’m thinking…hmmm.
From there I went on to chronicle Luongo’s litany of big game failures. In the interest of full disclosure, Canada did go on to win the gold medal, albeit with about as little help from their goaltender as is possible in a game of that magnitude. Bobby Lu promptly blew up against the Blackhawks in the second round giving up a 21 goals in 6 games, including a stunning 19 in four losses. That would have been bad in the run and gun days of the early 1990’s, let alone now.
One year later, Luongo, the Freak Twins, and the Rest of the Western Canadian Slash and Run Pansies are at it again. Over the last 72 hours, they’ve laid the groundwork for what could be an epic post season choke. I resist the term “historic” only because we are barely one year removed from the last team to blow a 3 to 0 series lead, Claude Julien’s chronically underachieving Boston Bruins.
While the Bruins slowly and painfully disintegrated last May, the Canucks are imploding with stunning alacrity. Since Bobby Lu and the Twins eeked out a one goal win at the United Center last Sunday, they’ve been blown off the ice by a combined score of 12-2. Luongo in his inimitable fashion has gone from virtually unbeatable in the first three games to some bizarre amalgamation of Peter Skudra and Sebastian Caron. In short, he can’t stop anything.
In two games, Bobby Lu has been scalded for (I’m not making this up), 10 goals on 40 shots (a 75% save percentage) in just over 65 minutes of hockey. There simply are not sufficient words in the hockey lexicon to adequately describe this brutality. And while I freely admit that the defense in front of him has been less than stellar, the fact is that Luongo is back to yielding goals on shots I truly think Dave Filoni or Big Mike Levin would turn aside.
The irony here is that Luongo was supposed to be the missing piece in Vancouver when he was acquired. The Canucks of the late 90s and early 2000s were tremendously talented teams with one significant weakness, between the pipes. The best intentions of Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi were annually foiled by the inadequacies of Dan Cloutier and Bob Essensa.
Luongo was a monumental talent who carried horrendous Florida Panther teams to respectability. He was annually amongst the league leaders in save percentage in spite of facing more shots than any other goaltender. The expectation in Vancouver was that he was another Marty Brodeur. Turns out he’s just an overhyped and overpaid version of his replacement in Florida Tomas Vokoun.
How bad having things gotten for Luongo and the Nucks? Marian Hossa scored two goals last night. Enough said.
To be fair, Luongo is hardly the only Canuck who appears to be folding under playoff pressure. For example, I can’t remember a top scorer (let alone two freaky clones of the same one) for whom the hype so far exceeds the performance as the Sedins, at least come playoff time. Oh wait; I used that exact phrase to describe Luongo in last year’s blog. So be it, I can be repetitive and still be correct.
The great Ryan Kessler continues to endure Hossa like streaks of goal scoring ineptitude in the playoffs. The Canucks defense continues to allow odd man breaks like they are playing the Gretzky Oilers in the mid 80s. Imagine what Vancouver could do if Kevin Bieksa was more focused on breaking up a 2 on 1 breaks than he was on beating up Viktor Stalberg. Dare to dream I guess.
And when the score gets ugly, the Canucks resort to their usual cheap shot, slash and run tactics. I particularly enjoyed watching Alex Edler cheap shot Troy Brower in the head and then skate behind Maxim LaPierre (another upstanding gentlemen) for protection late in the second period. Heaven forbid they throw a legal check like Brooks Orpik or face a Hawks player man to man. Keep in mind this is a Blackhawk’s team that for my money is desperately lacking in physicality and grit.
I’m always reluctant to question the heart of character of professional athletes, especially hockey players. These guys play through injuries that would keep most of us confined to our mattress for months. Still, when you combine their low brow cheap shots with their recurring history of post season collapse, I can’t help but think the Canucks are a team desperately lacking in character. Compare them to the Penguins for example who are on the verge of winning a playoff series without Crosby and Malkin. Never mind, don’t.
Ironically, Vancouver initiated its implosion right after their resident goon took out Hawks defensemen Brent Seabrook with a blatant cheap shot to the head. In any place other than the bizzarro world of Colin Campbell justice, Raffi Torres would have earned another long suspension. Instead, all is well because he tee’d up Seabrook in what is apparently called is “the hitting zone.” Never mind that he clubbed him in the head, BEFORE SEABROOK TOUCHED THE PUCK.
And we want Sidney Crosby to return to this with his post concussion status in doubt?
Anyway, that hit seemed to accomplish what otherwise seemed impossible all season. It woke up the slumbering Blackhawks. The defending champs slogged their way through a horrifically disappointing season, backed their way in to the playoffs and then dug a seemingly insurmountable 3 to 0 hole. Alas since Torres tried to decapitate Seabrook, Chicago has taken over the series. If you don’t think they are fired up, you did not see Dave Bolland smash his stick over the bench last night in a fit of rage.
For Penguin fans who don’t follow the Blackhawks, understand that Jonathan Toews could be Sidney Crosby’s twin brother. Captain Serious, as he’s referred in the windy city, shares Crosby’s ferocious competitive spirit and strong leadership qualities. Like Crosby, Toews displays maturity well beyond his years and has an innate understanding of the risks that come with mouthing off in the press.
So I will acknowledge I was a fair bit shocked by Toews’ incendiary comments after the Hawks 7-2 laugher in game four. Instead of the usual mish mosh about taking it one game at a time and respecting our opponent, the Captain let go a long, diplomatic quote, the real context of which was “the Canucks are not that good, the Hawks were just not exposing them.” He went a step further in suggesting that the media and perhaps even his teammates think the Nucks are a lot better than they really are.
Is it me or did Captain Serious call the Canucks an overrated fraud. In a nice way, politically correct way of course.
Such comments would have been stunning if they came from Brett Hull or Jeremy Roenick. To have them come from Toews, a man who measures his words like a U.S. congressmen, is shocking on a “Brett Favre texting scandal” level. Since it’s happened, Toews’ teammates like Duncan Keith, Dave Bolland, Brian Campbell and for the love of all that’s good and holy, HOSSA, have taken over the series. And Luongo has twice been yanked, once with the indignity of being taunted by Vince Vaughn.
Yes I’m jumping the gun a bit here. The Blackhawks still need two more wins to complete this combination sporting miracle and colossAL choke. The Nucks could still pull it together and salvage the series in which case this blog will appear premature and vindictive (rather than simply vindictive).
Certainly Bobby Lu tried to very hard to convince the media that “a loss is a loss regardless of the score” after Thursday night’s debacAL. That’s the same hockey media contingent that engages in an annual Canuck love fest like it’s a rite of spring, before roasting Luongo and the boys after their latest post season collapse.
Can you imagine the carnage in Vancouver if the Nucks blow this? Rest assured Alain Vigneault will be collecting Canadian unemployment. Luongo’s hockey life in Vancouver will become untenable though good luck trading a $100 Million goalie whose glove turns to stone in April. Who knows, they might even trade ONE OF the Sedins for spite.
Three days ago such a scenario seemed impossible. As of now, let’s just say that anything is possible.
http://ahaberman35.livejournal.com/12346.html
In the last two seasons, Fleury has won 30 playoff games and a Stanley Cup. He’s won two game sevens, one against the best offensive player in the game and one against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
By comparison Roberto Luongo has won…ok give me a minute…I’m thinking…hmmm.
From there I went on to chronicle Luongo’s litany of big game failures. In the interest of full disclosure, Canada did go on to win the gold medal, albeit with about as little help from their goaltender as is possible in a game of that magnitude. Bobby Lu promptly blew up against the Blackhawks in the second round giving up a 21 goals in 6 games, including a stunning 19 in four losses. That would have been bad in the run and gun days of the early 1990’s, let alone now.
One year later, Luongo, the Freak Twins, and the Rest of the Western Canadian Slash and Run Pansies are at it again. Over the last 72 hours, they’ve laid the groundwork for what could be an epic post season choke. I resist the term “historic” only because we are barely one year removed from the last team to blow a 3 to 0 series lead, Claude Julien’s chronically underachieving Boston Bruins.
While the Bruins slowly and painfully disintegrated last May, the Canucks are imploding with stunning alacrity. Since Bobby Lu and the Twins eeked out a one goal win at the United Center last Sunday, they’ve been blown off the ice by a combined score of 12-2. Luongo in his inimitable fashion has gone from virtually unbeatable in the first three games to some bizarre amalgamation of Peter Skudra and Sebastian Caron. In short, he can’t stop anything.
In two games, Bobby Lu has been scalded for (I’m not making this up), 10 goals on 40 shots (a 75% save percentage) in just over 65 minutes of hockey. There simply are not sufficient words in the hockey lexicon to adequately describe this brutality. And while I freely admit that the defense in front of him has been less than stellar, the fact is that Luongo is back to yielding goals on shots I truly think Dave Filoni or Big Mike Levin would turn aside.
The irony here is that Luongo was supposed to be the missing piece in Vancouver when he was acquired. The Canucks of the late 90s and early 2000s were tremendously talented teams with one significant weakness, between the pipes. The best intentions of Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi were annually foiled by the inadequacies of Dan Cloutier and Bob Essensa.
Luongo was a monumental talent who carried horrendous Florida Panther teams to respectability. He was annually amongst the league leaders in save percentage in spite of facing more shots than any other goaltender. The expectation in Vancouver was that he was another Marty Brodeur. Turns out he’s just an overhyped and overpaid version of his replacement in Florida Tomas Vokoun.
How bad having things gotten for Luongo and the Nucks? Marian Hossa scored two goals last night. Enough said.
To be fair, Luongo is hardly the only Canuck who appears to be folding under playoff pressure. For example, I can’t remember a top scorer (let alone two freaky clones of the same one) for whom the hype so far exceeds the performance as the Sedins, at least come playoff time. Oh wait; I used that exact phrase to describe Luongo in last year’s blog. So be it, I can be repetitive and still be correct.
The great Ryan Kessler continues to endure Hossa like streaks of goal scoring ineptitude in the playoffs. The Canucks defense continues to allow odd man breaks like they are playing the Gretzky Oilers in the mid 80s. Imagine what Vancouver could do if Kevin Bieksa was more focused on breaking up a 2 on 1 breaks than he was on beating up Viktor Stalberg. Dare to dream I guess.
And when the score gets ugly, the Canucks resort to their usual cheap shot, slash and run tactics. I particularly enjoyed watching Alex Edler cheap shot Troy Brower in the head and then skate behind Maxim LaPierre (another upstanding gentlemen) for protection late in the second period. Heaven forbid they throw a legal check like Brooks Orpik or face a Hawks player man to man. Keep in mind this is a Blackhawk’s team that for my money is desperately lacking in physicality and grit.
I’m always reluctant to question the heart of character of professional athletes, especially hockey players. These guys play through injuries that would keep most of us confined to our mattress for months. Still, when you combine their low brow cheap shots with their recurring history of post season collapse, I can’t help but think the Canucks are a team desperately lacking in character. Compare them to the Penguins for example who are on the verge of winning a playoff series without Crosby and Malkin. Never mind, don’t.
Ironically, Vancouver initiated its implosion right after their resident goon took out Hawks defensemen Brent Seabrook with a blatant cheap shot to the head. In any place other than the bizzarro world of Colin Campbell justice, Raffi Torres would have earned another long suspension. Instead, all is well because he tee’d up Seabrook in what is apparently called is “the hitting zone.” Never mind that he clubbed him in the head, BEFORE SEABROOK TOUCHED THE PUCK.
And we want Sidney Crosby to return to this with his post concussion status in doubt?
Anyway, that hit seemed to accomplish what otherwise seemed impossible all season. It woke up the slumbering Blackhawks. The defending champs slogged their way through a horrifically disappointing season, backed their way in to the playoffs and then dug a seemingly insurmountable 3 to 0 hole. Alas since Torres tried to decapitate Seabrook, Chicago has taken over the series. If you don’t think they are fired up, you did not see Dave Bolland smash his stick over the bench last night in a fit of rage.
For Penguin fans who don’t follow the Blackhawks, understand that Jonathan Toews could be Sidney Crosby’s twin brother. Captain Serious, as he’s referred in the windy city, shares Crosby’s ferocious competitive spirit and strong leadership qualities. Like Crosby, Toews displays maturity well beyond his years and has an innate understanding of the risks that come with mouthing off in the press.
So I will acknowledge I was a fair bit shocked by Toews’ incendiary comments after the Hawks 7-2 laugher in game four. Instead of the usual mish mosh about taking it one game at a time and respecting our opponent, the Captain let go a long, diplomatic quote, the real context of which was “the Canucks are not that good, the Hawks were just not exposing them.” He went a step further in suggesting that the media and perhaps even his teammates think the Nucks are a lot better than they really are.
Is it me or did Captain Serious call the Canucks an overrated fraud. In a nice way, politically correct way of course.
Such comments would have been stunning if they came from Brett Hull or Jeremy Roenick. To have them come from Toews, a man who measures his words like a U.S. congressmen, is shocking on a “Brett Favre texting scandal” level. Since it’s happened, Toews’ teammates like Duncan Keith, Dave Bolland, Brian Campbell and for the love of all that’s good and holy, HOSSA, have taken over the series. And Luongo has twice been yanked, once with the indignity of being taunted by Vince Vaughn.
Yes I’m jumping the gun a bit here. The Blackhawks still need two more wins to complete this combination sporting miracle and colossAL choke. The Nucks could still pull it together and salvage the series in which case this blog will appear premature and vindictive (rather than simply vindictive).
Certainly Bobby Lu tried to very hard to convince the media that “a loss is a loss regardless of the score” after Thursday night’s debacAL. That’s the same hockey media contingent that engages in an annual Canuck love fest like it’s a rite of spring, before roasting Luongo and the boys after their latest post season collapse.
Can you imagine the carnage in Vancouver if the Nucks blow this? Rest assured Alain Vigneault will be collecting Canadian unemployment. Luongo’s hockey life in Vancouver will become untenable though good luck trading a $100 Million goalie whose glove turns to stone in April. Who knows, they might even trade ONE OF the Sedins for spite.
Three days ago such a scenario seemed impossible. As of now, let’s just say that anything is possible.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
First Round Playoff Predictions - Fleury's Moment in the Sun
I have always maintained a staunch belief (or cult like zeal) that great goaltending is a prerequisite for winning a Stanley Cup. That is not exactly ground breaking news to those who know me well.
The Penguins have won three Stanley Cups in their history and played in four cup finals. On all four of those runs, goaltending was a critical element of that ultimate success. With all due respect to Ken Wregget I doubt the Stanley Cup would have found its way to Mario Lemieux’s swimming pool without Tom Barrasso.
Even with my grandiose delusions of goaltending superiority, I dare not advance the theory that Barrasso or Marc-Andre Fleury were the best players on their respective teams. Not when they were sharing ice time with the likes of Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, and Evgeni Malkin. Quite honestly, that’s the way a championship team should be built, with a great goaltender as PART OF the mix.
This may cause Disque and Filoni to fall over clutching their chests but truly I do not want an NHL where goaltenders can single handedly carry teams to championships on a regular basis. I fear this as much as I fear the league’s continued Osgood-ification, where certain teams devalue goaltenders to the point of absurdity. For the record, I define absurdity as fielding a championship caliber club in front of Michael Leighton and/or bailing on the cup winning goaltender over $2.75 Million in salary.
Ironically, while the influence of goaltenders seems to be increasing in the regular season, the opposite appears to be happening in the playoffs. With all due respect to Jaroslav Halak, we are seeing fewer and fewer instances of goaltenders carrying a team to the finals. For my money you have to go back to 2004 when Mikka Kipprusoff dragged a mediocre Calgary to game 7 of the finals, one year after Jean Sebastian Giguere did the same for Anaheim.
Which brings us to the 2011 Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury is poised to boldly go where no Penguin goaltender has gone before. For the first time in team history, a Penguin goaltender is clearly and without question the team’s most critical player going in to the post season. The 2011 Penguins will literally go only as far as the Flower can carry them.
This is not about making big saves at key moments as he did in 2008 and 2009. This is about being exceedingly brilliant start to finish. Forget the obvious fact that Fleury can not afford to allow soft goals against Tampa. He needs to spend the next two weeks making life utterly miserable for Stamkos, St’Louis, and LeCavallier. It’s the only chance the Penguins have.
The Penguins are going to play this series, and possibly their entire post season run without Sidney Crosby. That’s on top of already losing Evgeni Malkin. Feel free to dispute my theory that the Pens should shut down Crosby until next season. Just understand that he’s highly unlikely to play against Tampa if at all in these playoffs.
The Penguins have played through an unprecedented run of critical injuries, pretty much since the winter classic. There are not enough superlatives to describe the team’s effort and more important results during this span. They have developed something you can not quantify; an almost indominitable will to win. With all due respect to Mike Tomlin, it’s Dan Bylsma’s Penguins who have shown that “the standard is the standard.”
But there is no mystery here; the team just does not score enough goals without 87 and 71.
If the Pens are going to beat Tampa, it will likely be by 2-0 or 2-1 type scores. They will have to work relentlessly from start to finish, in every game. They will have to forecheck the life out of Tampa’s defense. They will have to stay out of the penalty box and not give easy opportunities to Tampa’s cadre of offensive stars. The drastically improved defense will have to continue its shut down performance.
And most important, Marc-Andre Fleury will have to be the dominant player in every game.
Even that might not be enough. Heart, grit, effort and strong goaltending are prerequisites for championship success. Superstars playing like superstars are the ultimate drivers. Penguin fans know this all to well; for years the Pens beat down harder working teams like Washington and Boston by having superior firepower. I still say the best game the Pens have played since Crosby’s injury was a 1 to 0 loss to Washington; a game that potentially foreshadows the team’s ultimate fate without Crosby.
The Pens have a championship goalie, championship coach, championship defense, and a championship heart. Without 87 and 71 they lack championship skill. That may keep them from winning the cup if Sid does not play, but it’s enough to beat the Bolts…PENS IN 6.
Other Series
Washington (F’n) Crapitals (1) over New York Rangers (8) – 7 Games
Henrik Lundqvist is vastly superior to any of Washington’s three young goaltenders which should create Halak style post traumatic stress for Craps fans. Sadly, I don’t think it will matter. The Craps have an ugly post season history; but the Rangers can go choke for choke with anybody. New York still does not have anybody who can score consistently, Washington still has Ovechkin. For the record, I’m not totally buying the Craps new “defensive identity” but on the bright side Alex Semin and Mike Green will now have viable excuses for not scoring in the playoffs.
Buffalo Sabres (7) over The Eastern Pennsylvania Orange and Black Goon Squad (2) – 7 Games
Philadelphia has without question the deepest and most talented group of skaters in the post season. They are eerily reminiscent of last year’s Blackhawks with one notable exception; as per usual, the Goons are backstopping their team with second rate goaltending. Sergei Bobrovsky has been trending downward since mid season and I’m not buying another Boucher/Leighton miracle. Buffalo’s major trade deadline acquisition was apparently their new owner, the Sabres are one of the hottest teams in the league since they wrapped up due diligence. In the meantime, Chris Pronger is in the press box and Philly is stumbling backwards in to the playoffs.
Boston Bruins (3) over Montreal Canadiens (6) – 6 Games
Last year I thought Montreal was the worst of the 16 playoff teams. This year…I think Montreal is the worst of the 16 playoff teams. And in spite of his shockingly brilliant season, I’m not expecting Halak part deux from Carey Price. I know the Canadiens have tortured Boston for a century and I know there is added angst given Zdeno Chara’s attempted beheading of Max Pacioretty, but I don’t see an upset here.
Western Canadian Slash and Run Pansies (1) over Chicago Blackhawks (8) – 6 games
Last Sunday I was at the United Center watching the Hawks try and salvage an immensely disappointing season. The atmosphere was great, the Hawks had everything at stake and Detroit had nothing to play for. The Hawks promptly spit up all over themselves.
I would love nothing more than for my adopted home town team to stuff it to Bobby Lu and the Freak Twins for a third straight year. And I might think it possible if Luongo’s one man personal nightmare Dustin Byfuglien was not marooned in the hockey purgatory that is Atlanta. Alas, the salary cap apocalypse cost the Hawks too much depth, physicality and grit and it showed all season. I’m not sold on the Nucks but I think they get over their Blackhawk hump this year.
San Jose Sharks (2) over Los Angeles Kings (7) – 5 games
The Sharks typically follow dominant regular seasons with playoff meltdowns. This happens because Joe Thornton typically follows a dominant regular season with a playoff meltdown. Never fear Sharks fans, Thornton finally changed the pattern; this year he’s been invisible pretty much since opening night. That means a very deep Shark’s team has already learned to win without him. Throw in dealing up perennial playoff choker Evgeni Nabakov for Stanley Cup backstop Antti Niemi; add Los Angeles losing Anze Kopitar and it’s an easy win for the Sharks. By the way, I see big things for San Jose this year.
Detroit Dead Wing (3) over Winnipeg Jets (6) – 6 games
If the Jets had still had my defensive man crush Zbynek Michalek, one legitimate goal scorer, or an actual home ice advantage, they would have a shot in this series. That’s what happens when you match Ilya Bryzgolav and Jimmy Howard in net. Alas the Dead Wings are used to winning with inferior goaltending (“Osgood-ification”) and the Jets just can not score. Throw in Detroit having decidedly more fans at all seven games and I think the Wings are just too much.
Nashville Predators (5) over Anaheim Ducks (4) – 7 games
I’m going to admit something I NEVER thought I would ever put in writing. Anaheim’s chances to win this series rest entirely on having a healthy Ray Emery. That’s akin to Penguin fans resting their hopes on Matt Cooke winning the noble peace prize. I’ll take a moment to make sure my computer does not spontaneously combust.
The Ducks have more talent than Nashville; in fact they have arguably the best first line in the game. And they’ve actually improved since Jonas Hiller got hurt; they were far too dependent on their Swiss sensation. Alas I can’t fathom any NHL team winning a playoff series with Dan Ellis in goal; let alone one with Anaheim’s defensive weaknesses. Which means as much as I’m disgusted by the idea, Nashville finally makes the second round…unless Emery or Hiller returns.
The Penguins have won three Stanley Cups in their history and played in four cup finals. On all four of those runs, goaltending was a critical element of that ultimate success. With all due respect to Ken Wregget I doubt the Stanley Cup would have found its way to Mario Lemieux’s swimming pool without Tom Barrasso.
Even with my grandiose delusions of goaltending superiority, I dare not advance the theory that Barrasso or Marc-Andre Fleury were the best players on their respective teams. Not when they were sharing ice time with the likes of Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, and Evgeni Malkin. Quite honestly, that’s the way a championship team should be built, with a great goaltender as PART OF the mix.
This may cause Disque and Filoni to fall over clutching their chests but truly I do not want an NHL where goaltenders can single handedly carry teams to championships on a regular basis. I fear this as much as I fear the league’s continued Osgood-ification, where certain teams devalue goaltenders to the point of absurdity. For the record, I define absurdity as fielding a championship caliber club in front of Michael Leighton and/or bailing on the cup winning goaltender over $2.75 Million in salary.
Ironically, while the influence of goaltenders seems to be increasing in the regular season, the opposite appears to be happening in the playoffs. With all due respect to Jaroslav Halak, we are seeing fewer and fewer instances of goaltenders carrying a team to the finals. For my money you have to go back to 2004 when Mikka Kipprusoff dragged a mediocre Calgary to game 7 of the finals, one year after Jean Sebastian Giguere did the same for Anaheim.
Which brings us to the 2011 Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury is poised to boldly go where no Penguin goaltender has gone before. For the first time in team history, a Penguin goaltender is clearly and without question the team’s most critical player going in to the post season. The 2011 Penguins will literally go only as far as the Flower can carry them.
This is not about making big saves at key moments as he did in 2008 and 2009. This is about being exceedingly brilliant start to finish. Forget the obvious fact that Fleury can not afford to allow soft goals against Tampa. He needs to spend the next two weeks making life utterly miserable for Stamkos, St’Louis, and LeCavallier. It’s the only chance the Penguins have.
The Penguins are going to play this series, and possibly their entire post season run without Sidney Crosby. That’s on top of already losing Evgeni Malkin. Feel free to dispute my theory that the Pens should shut down Crosby until next season. Just understand that he’s highly unlikely to play against Tampa if at all in these playoffs.
The Penguins have played through an unprecedented run of critical injuries, pretty much since the winter classic. There are not enough superlatives to describe the team’s effort and more important results during this span. They have developed something you can not quantify; an almost indominitable will to win. With all due respect to Mike Tomlin, it’s Dan Bylsma’s Penguins who have shown that “the standard is the standard.”
But there is no mystery here; the team just does not score enough goals without 87 and 71.
If the Pens are going to beat Tampa, it will likely be by 2-0 or 2-1 type scores. They will have to work relentlessly from start to finish, in every game. They will have to forecheck the life out of Tampa’s defense. They will have to stay out of the penalty box and not give easy opportunities to Tampa’s cadre of offensive stars. The drastically improved defense will have to continue its shut down performance.
And most important, Marc-Andre Fleury will have to be the dominant player in every game.
Even that might not be enough. Heart, grit, effort and strong goaltending are prerequisites for championship success. Superstars playing like superstars are the ultimate drivers. Penguin fans know this all to well; for years the Pens beat down harder working teams like Washington and Boston by having superior firepower. I still say the best game the Pens have played since Crosby’s injury was a 1 to 0 loss to Washington; a game that potentially foreshadows the team’s ultimate fate without Crosby.
The Pens have a championship goalie, championship coach, championship defense, and a championship heart. Without 87 and 71 they lack championship skill. That may keep them from winning the cup if Sid does not play, but it’s enough to beat the Bolts…PENS IN 6.
Other Series
Washington (F’n) Crapitals (1) over New York Rangers (8) – 7 Games
Henrik Lundqvist is vastly superior to any of Washington’s three young goaltenders which should create Halak style post traumatic stress for Craps fans. Sadly, I don’t think it will matter. The Craps have an ugly post season history; but the Rangers can go choke for choke with anybody. New York still does not have anybody who can score consistently, Washington still has Ovechkin. For the record, I’m not totally buying the Craps new “defensive identity” but on the bright side Alex Semin and Mike Green will now have viable excuses for not scoring in the playoffs.
Buffalo Sabres (7) over The Eastern Pennsylvania Orange and Black Goon Squad (2) – 7 Games
Philadelphia has without question the deepest and most talented group of skaters in the post season. They are eerily reminiscent of last year’s Blackhawks with one notable exception; as per usual, the Goons are backstopping their team with second rate goaltending. Sergei Bobrovsky has been trending downward since mid season and I’m not buying another Boucher/Leighton miracle. Buffalo’s major trade deadline acquisition was apparently their new owner, the Sabres are one of the hottest teams in the league since they wrapped up due diligence. In the meantime, Chris Pronger is in the press box and Philly is stumbling backwards in to the playoffs.
Boston Bruins (3) over Montreal Canadiens (6) – 6 Games
Last year I thought Montreal was the worst of the 16 playoff teams. This year…I think Montreal is the worst of the 16 playoff teams. And in spite of his shockingly brilliant season, I’m not expecting Halak part deux from Carey Price. I know the Canadiens have tortured Boston for a century and I know there is added angst given Zdeno Chara’s attempted beheading of Max Pacioretty, but I don’t see an upset here.
Western Canadian Slash and Run Pansies (1) over Chicago Blackhawks (8) – 6 games
Last Sunday I was at the United Center watching the Hawks try and salvage an immensely disappointing season. The atmosphere was great, the Hawks had everything at stake and Detroit had nothing to play for. The Hawks promptly spit up all over themselves.
I would love nothing more than for my adopted home town team to stuff it to Bobby Lu and the Freak Twins for a third straight year. And I might think it possible if Luongo’s one man personal nightmare Dustin Byfuglien was not marooned in the hockey purgatory that is Atlanta. Alas, the salary cap apocalypse cost the Hawks too much depth, physicality and grit and it showed all season. I’m not sold on the Nucks but I think they get over their Blackhawk hump this year.
San Jose Sharks (2) over Los Angeles Kings (7) – 5 games
The Sharks typically follow dominant regular seasons with playoff meltdowns. This happens because Joe Thornton typically follows a dominant regular season with a playoff meltdown. Never fear Sharks fans, Thornton finally changed the pattern; this year he’s been invisible pretty much since opening night. That means a very deep Shark’s team has already learned to win without him. Throw in dealing up perennial playoff choker Evgeni Nabakov for Stanley Cup backstop Antti Niemi; add Los Angeles losing Anze Kopitar and it’s an easy win for the Sharks. By the way, I see big things for San Jose this year.
Detroit Dead Wing (3) over Winnipeg Jets (6) – 6 games
If the Jets had still had my defensive man crush Zbynek Michalek, one legitimate goal scorer, or an actual home ice advantage, they would have a shot in this series. That’s what happens when you match Ilya Bryzgolav and Jimmy Howard in net. Alas the Dead Wings are used to winning with inferior goaltending (“Osgood-ification”) and the Jets just can not score. Throw in Detroit having decidedly more fans at all seven games and I think the Wings are just too much.
Nashville Predators (5) over Anaheim Ducks (4) – 7 games
I’m going to admit something I NEVER thought I would ever put in writing. Anaheim’s chances to win this series rest entirely on having a healthy Ray Emery. That’s akin to Penguin fans resting their hopes on Matt Cooke winning the noble peace prize. I’ll take a moment to make sure my computer does not spontaneously combust.
The Ducks have more talent than Nashville; in fact they have arguably the best first line in the game. And they’ve actually improved since Jonas Hiller got hurt; they were far too dependent on their Swiss sensation. Alas I can’t fathom any NHL team winning a playoff series with Dan Ellis in goal; let alone one with Anaheim’s defensive weaknesses. Which means as much as I’m disgusted by the idea, Nashville finally makes the second round…unless Emery or Hiller returns.
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Sad Tail of Barry Bonds
It seems like a thousand years ago that Barry Lamar Bonds was a young superstar left fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. And as he endures endless days in a federal court room, I wonder if it seems even longer to the walking human cranium.
Bonds has become a tragic figure in modern sports although the seeds of this tragedy are entirely self cultivated. His once in a lifetime talent should have made him a hero in Pittsburgh and an icon in his sport. He should be a shoe in for Cooperstown and merit consideration as one of the greatest players of all time.
Instead, he’s remembered at best as the surly epitome of the entitled modern athlete; at worst as a steroid freak. That’s the untenable part for those of us who remember the young Barry Bonds in black and gold. Long before he ever heard of Victor Conte, long before he juiced his way to immorality, Barry Bonds of the Pittsburgh Pirates was perhaps the greatest baseball player we ever saw.
There is a reason that I attended so many Pirate games in the early 80s and I assure you it goes beyond the daily (and sometimes twice daily) invitations from my good friend the Kapper. Watching a young Bonds was like watching a young Mario Lemieux; any night he might do something you had never seen before. As hard as this is to imagine for an entire generation of Pittsburgh baseball fans, the Pirates in those days where a truly enjoyable team to watch.
I will take it a step further; the Pirates during the height of the Bonds era were arguably the best team in baseball, though sadly without a championship to prove it. They won three straight division titles and did it the right way; with pitching, defense, and great fundamentals. And when that was not quite enough; Bonds was there to change a game with his bat, glove, arm or legs.
Which makes sense because as much as we would like to believe otherwise, you can’t win championships with just hard work and fundamentals. You need that superstar who can lift a team on his back at key moments. If you doubt this, I suggest you investigate the team goal totals of the hard working Penguins’ since Crosby and Malkin were injured.
What that means was that Bonds was the ultimate key to the Pirates’ phenomenal regular season success. He was also every bit the key to their trio of consecutive post season failures. To this day I can not get my arms around the idea that a player so dominant during the regular season could morph in to Rafael Belliard in October.
Those grievous post season failures might have been Bonds’ ultimate legacy had he not discovered the cream and the clear a decade later. They would probably have excluded him from mention with the true immortals of the game; even though his talent and regular season performance was every bit as impressive. To some extent, Bonds saved his legacy by juicing up; not because of the video game-like 73 home runs he hit in 2001 but because of his dominant performance in that post season (before the Giants’ inevitable World Series choke).
Of course saving his legacy might not have been necessary if Bonds’ were not such a complete jerk. The next person who has a genuinely good word to say about Bonds in public will also be the first. Did you notice the amount of joy last season’s Giants took not just in wining their first World Series but also in winning it without the testosterone king?
(Editors note, my apologies…according to Barry he’s the flaxseed oil king).
With all due respect to any other universally disliked athlete in sports, Bonds is the only one for whom it can be said a signature career moment was the coach or manager dressing him down publically on the 6:00pm news. Jim Leyland was extremely popular in Pittsburgh before he screamed, “I’m the ‘gosh darn’ manager!” at Bonds. He became a virtual deity afterwards. It was probably the first time in his life that somebody had the nerve to knock Bonds down a peg.
I talk a lot in the blog about athletes building up collateral with the fans and media. Those who choose not too do so ultimately at their own peril. Such collateral may have zero net value when the team is winning and/or the player is performing at his best; but it’s platinum when things go sour.
The simple fact is that when everybody hates you; people will bail on you at the first opportunity. Deep down, nobody wants to root for a guy they truly dislike. That’s why the Cubs continue to deny the existence of Sammy Sosa, a man who was instrumental filling their stadium for over a decade. That’s why Bear fans turned on Jay Cutler in a heartbeat last January.
It’s also why so many in the media continued to defend Kobe Bryant during his rape accusation while Ben Roethlisberger was given little or not benefit of the doubt. Kobe made a point to seem publically likeable, Ben never considered this a priority until last fall.
Barry Bonds never learned this lesson. Truth be told, I don’t think he ever cared too. He always seemed content to be a complete jerk, and anybody who dared call him out was either jealous or racist. Now its all coming back to bite him as many who knew him line up to jam the final nail in his legal coffin; with the media cheering them on.
Honestly, of all the things to hate about Bonds; his insistence on playing the race card is at the top of the list. I’m not suggesting that he never encountered racism in his life; at some point he probably did. I am saying that when a wealthy, entitled, superstar athlete uses it as a defense mechanism against even the slightest criticism, it insults and dishonors those who have truly been victims. It also speaks a great deal of that person’s character or better yet; lack thereof.
Is there any question that Bonds grew up with more money and privilege than most of us? Do you have any doubt that people have been kissing his rear end from the moment his monstrous athletic talents first became visible? Somehow, I don’t think Martin Luther King was visualizing the plight of Barry Bonds when he penned the “I have a dream” speech.
Which brings us to today. Perhaps the greatest baseball player of my generation is little more than a side show carnival freak. He’s on trial for lying to a grand jury and the U.S. Government is parading in a cavalcade of witnesses to prove it. In the end, they likely will. You know the old saying, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...
Bonds is too smart to believe that the drugs he was given were harmless creams and oils, especially when his body (and head) suddenly doubled in size and baseballs started flying in to San Francisco Bay with record breaking regularity. And if Bonds truly were that dumb, he’s too arrogant to make anybody believe it; especially given his personal trainer (and dealer’s) bizarre insistence on remaining in jail essentially at Barry’s behest.
No matter what happens in this trial, Bonds epitaph will be that he tarnished his entire legacy over what was likely 100 steroid induced home runs. That and one chance to overcome his litany of October failures. I exclude his home run records because they are afforded no legitimacy in modern baseball. In point of fact, Bonds’ most amazing feet may be that singlehandedly transformed two of the most revered records in all of sports in to complete irrelevancy.
Which means in the end, he did it all for nothing.
Oddly, in spite of everything I said above, I have mixed emotions on this. I find it impossible to have any sympathy for Bonds and certainly would love to see another blow landed in the fight against performance enhancing drugs in sports. And yet there is still a part of me that remembers him as a young man making those miraculous diving catches on the green cement of Three Rivers Stadium. That part of me mourns that a player of that magnitude will be remembered only as a cheater, a criminal, and a first class jerk.
Even for as vile a character as Bonds, that qualifies on some level as a sports tragedy.
Bonds has become a tragic figure in modern sports although the seeds of this tragedy are entirely self cultivated. His once in a lifetime talent should have made him a hero in Pittsburgh and an icon in his sport. He should be a shoe in for Cooperstown and merit consideration as one of the greatest players of all time.
Instead, he’s remembered at best as the surly epitome of the entitled modern athlete; at worst as a steroid freak. That’s the untenable part for those of us who remember the young Barry Bonds in black and gold. Long before he ever heard of Victor Conte, long before he juiced his way to immorality, Barry Bonds of the Pittsburgh Pirates was perhaps the greatest baseball player we ever saw.
There is a reason that I attended so many Pirate games in the early 80s and I assure you it goes beyond the daily (and sometimes twice daily) invitations from my good friend the Kapper. Watching a young Bonds was like watching a young Mario Lemieux; any night he might do something you had never seen before. As hard as this is to imagine for an entire generation of Pittsburgh baseball fans, the Pirates in those days where a truly enjoyable team to watch.
I will take it a step further; the Pirates during the height of the Bonds era were arguably the best team in baseball, though sadly without a championship to prove it. They won three straight division titles and did it the right way; with pitching, defense, and great fundamentals. And when that was not quite enough; Bonds was there to change a game with his bat, glove, arm or legs.
Which makes sense because as much as we would like to believe otherwise, you can’t win championships with just hard work and fundamentals. You need that superstar who can lift a team on his back at key moments. If you doubt this, I suggest you investigate the team goal totals of the hard working Penguins’ since Crosby and Malkin were injured.
What that means was that Bonds was the ultimate key to the Pirates’ phenomenal regular season success. He was also every bit the key to their trio of consecutive post season failures. To this day I can not get my arms around the idea that a player so dominant during the regular season could morph in to Rafael Belliard in October.
Those grievous post season failures might have been Bonds’ ultimate legacy had he not discovered the cream and the clear a decade later. They would probably have excluded him from mention with the true immortals of the game; even though his talent and regular season performance was every bit as impressive. To some extent, Bonds saved his legacy by juicing up; not because of the video game-like 73 home runs he hit in 2001 but because of his dominant performance in that post season (before the Giants’ inevitable World Series choke).
Of course saving his legacy might not have been necessary if Bonds’ were not such a complete jerk. The next person who has a genuinely good word to say about Bonds in public will also be the first. Did you notice the amount of joy last season’s Giants took not just in wining their first World Series but also in winning it without the testosterone king?
(Editors note, my apologies…according to Barry he’s the flaxseed oil king).
With all due respect to any other universally disliked athlete in sports, Bonds is the only one for whom it can be said a signature career moment was the coach or manager dressing him down publically on the 6:00pm news. Jim Leyland was extremely popular in Pittsburgh before he screamed, “I’m the ‘gosh darn’ manager!” at Bonds. He became a virtual deity afterwards. It was probably the first time in his life that somebody had the nerve to knock Bonds down a peg.
I talk a lot in the blog about athletes building up collateral with the fans and media. Those who choose not too do so ultimately at their own peril. Such collateral may have zero net value when the team is winning and/or the player is performing at his best; but it’s platinum when things go sour.
The simple fact is that when everybody hates you; people will bail on you at the first opportunity. Deep down, nobody wants to root for a guy they truly dislike. That’s why the Cubs continue to deny the existence of Sammy Sosa, a man who was instrumental filling their stadium for over a decade. That’s why Bear fans turned on Jay Cutler in a heartbeat last January.
It’s also why so many in the media continued to defend Kobe Bryant during his rape accusation while Ben Roethlisberger was given little or not benefit of the doubt. Kobe made a point to seem publically likeable, Ben never considered this a priority until last fall.
Barry Bonds never learned this lesson. Truth be told, I don’t think he ever cared too. He always seemed content to be a complete jerk, and anybody who dared call him out was either jealous or racist. Now its all coming back to bite him as many who knew him line up to jam the final nail in his legal coffin; with the media cheering them on.
Honestly, of all the things to hate about Bonds; his insistence on playing the race card is at the top of the list. I’m not suggesting that he never encountered racism in his life; at some point he probably did. I am saying that when a wealthy, entitled, superstar athlete uses it as a defense mechanism against even the slightest criticism, it insults and dishonors those who have truly been victims. It also speaks a great deal of that person’s character or better yet; lack thereof.
Is there any question that Bonds grew up with more money and privilege than most of us? Do you have any doubt that people have been kissing his rear end from the moment his monstrous athletic talents first became visible? Somehow, I don’t think Martin Luther King was visualizing the plight of Barry Bonds when he penned the “I have a dream” speech.
Which brings us to today. Perhaps the greatest baseball player of my generation is little more than a side show carnival freak. He’s on trial for lying to a grand jury and the U.S. Government is parading in a cavalcade of witnesses to prove it. In the end, they likely will. You know the old saying, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...
Bonds is too smart to believe that the drugs he was given were harmless creams and oils, especially when his body (and head) suddenly doubled in size and baseballs started flying in to San Francisco Bay with record breaking regularity. And if Bonds truly were that dumb, he’s too arrogant to make anybody believe it; especially given his personal trainer (and dealer’s) bizarre insistence on remaining in jail essentially at Barry’s behest.
No matter what happens in this trial, Bonds epitaph will be that he tarnished his entire legacy over what was likely 100 steroid induced home runs. That and one chance to overcome his litany of October failures. I exclude his home run records because they are afforded no legitimacy in modern baseball. In point of fact, Bonds’ most amazing feet may be that singlehandedly transformed two of the most revered records in all of sports in to complete irrelevancy.
Which means in the end, he did it all for nothing.
Oddly, in spite of everything I said above, I have mixed emotions on this. I find it impossible to have any sympathy for Bonds and certainly would love to see another blow landed in the fight against performance enhancing drugs in sports. And yet there is still a part of me that remembers him as a young man making those miraculous diving catches on the green cement of Three Rivers Stadium. That part of me mourns that a player of that magnitude will be remembered only as a cheater, a criminal, and a first class jerk.
Even for as vile a character as Bonds, that qualifies on some level as a sports tragedy.
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