I have always been impressed with Anaheim GM Bob Murray. He has always seemed to stay above the fray, always seemed to handle things with class and ethics. Which is why I am really confused about his actions over the past 24 hours. Murray held a press conference… apparently… I say apparently because I didn’t see any kind of announcement that a press conference was to take place so all members of the media could possibly attend. In that press conference there was an audience of one, Orange County Register staff writer Eric Stephens. In this presser, the Duck's GM threw out some wild accusations; funniest among them was that “these guys are diving left and right.” (I put that in quotes… I’m trusting that it is indeed a quote, I can’t be sure because no other member of the media was there to hear it.) I am also assuming that “these guys” refers to players on the Nashville Predators.
I have to make those assumptions because no one except Mr. Stephens was able to ask questions on the specifics of Mr. Murray’s charges. No one asked him who specifically on the Predators was diving… no one asked him to illuminate us on the vision he seems to have over the game that no one else does. I wonder if Mr. Murray will be available to answer questions from the media that attends today’s practice? If he so passionately believes in his message, and I have no reason to doubt that he does... I’m sure he wouldn’t mind giving a few specifics, calling out a few names.
I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one… Because I doubt seriously that Mr. Murray wants to answer any questions on this subject, because Mr. Murray won't let the media examine it, let us examine the accusation a bit with a few facts...
Nashville has had 16 power play chances in the series so far, Anaheim has had 12.
Heavens!!! Could Mr. Murray be right??? Over three games the Predators have had 25% more power plays than the Ducks… wow! Get out your tin hats… it’s a conspiracy!!!! Call the NHL office… get Colin Campbell on the phone, call Terry Gregson… we’ve got a big problem here and Bob Murray has found it!!!!
Wait a minute… perhaps before we go off half-cocked, we may need to look at a bigger sampling of numbers… hmmmm… if only we had one... Hey! I have an idea… Let’s look at the regular season… trends over an 82 game season would be much more reliable than a sample that only includes three games, heck, any first year stats class will teach you that and I am sure that Mr. Murray would’ve checked that out before making such accusations… wouldn’t he?
OK, for the 2010-2011 regular season Nashville was one of the least penalized teams in the league, taking the fourth fewest penalties over 82 games. Anaheim was the 7th most penalized team. Nashville took 287 minor penalties, Anaheim took 330… Nashville took 20 major penalties, Anaheim took 68.
Really?
Something’s not connecting here Mr. Murray. Your team took 43 more minor penalties and 48 more major penalties... that's over three times the major penalties as Nashville with over four times the amount of fights per game over an 82 game season. Of course, those numbers mean only one thing…
The Nashville Predators are secretly being helped by every on ice official from every game played in the NHL in 2010-2011 … and the Anaheim Ducks are simply a genial bunch of misunderstood angels…
The Anaheim Ducks would never do something like… oh… butt end a player in the face knocking out a few teeth... or punching a player multiple times with the glove on only to run away when challenged... or cup check a goaltender... or use a skate blade as a weapon... or even slewfooting a player in front of the net… nah… those things would never happen among Mr. Murray’s Kindly Band of Choirboys. They spend their time during games helping little old ladies across the blueline…
Now I know that we here in Nashville are just a bunch of Hee-Haw watching bumpkins (at least according to the same publication that ran this story) however… maybe Mr. Murray can help us understand how all of this so called diving and embellishment is causing his team to be outshot… at one point late in the second period of game 3, the Ducks were being outshot 25-5… outworked, and outplayed in this series.
The reality is this boys and girls… this is simply a GM trying to rescue a series he sees slipping away. A rather weak attempt to take the focus off the predicament his team is in… an attempt that really stretches the bounds of credibility. The reality is, for all of his whining about so many penalties being called in this series, he ought to be thankful that there haven’t been more whistles, given his team’s knack for behind the play action.
Mr. Murray must believe this is going to work for him, he
needs the officials to call less penalties on his team as Nashville’s power play has been uncharacteristically effective. But this may cut several ways… The on ice officials could ignore it for what it is, or perhaps it drives the officials to swallow their whistles completely, and Nashville will only be too happy to play this series five-on-five as it keeps Anaheim's most potent offensive weapon, its' power play, off the ice.
Mr. Murray’s advice to his team, “start diving,” is bad medicine for a team that is clearly frustrated. Personally, I think a GM telling his team to start diving is not a good thing… it’s bad advice for his team, it’s bad publicity for the NHL and frankly, it’s an embarrassment to his franchise.
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Random Notes
- Both the Ducks and the Predators took yesterday off… both teams will practice today at Centennial.
- Teemu Selanne still has the fire in his belly… he ripped his teammates after Sunday’s game. Selanne almost single-handledly willed his team back into the game, but didn’t have enough help.
- The Predators power play has been shockingly effective in this series, converting at a 25% clip (4-16)… especially surprising after last year’s horrendous 1-27 performance in the Chicago series.
- The NHL flat out blew it on the lack of supplemental discipline for Raffi Torres. According to the NHL, head shots are OK as long as they happen behind the net. Really??? I’m sure Steve Downie will be happy to hear that, after his disgusting hit in the Pens/Bolts game last night.
- Speaking of nasty hits… Pittsburgh strikes again… first Matt Cooke, now Chris Kunitz throwing a nasty elbow in the slot last night. He should be suspended for that, but you never know what the NHL’s “8 Ball of Justice” will decide.
- We have a Boston Bruins sighting… the Bruins ruined the first home playoff game for Montreal with a 4-2 beatdown of the Habs… now we have a series! Ex-Pred Rich Peverly got the GWG.
- The Philadelphia Flyers grabbed home ice advantage back and a 2-1 series lead from the Buffalo Sabres last night with a 4-2 win. Can Brian Boucher recapture the magic? So far, so good.
- I really feel for fans of the Phoenix Coyotes… not only are they battling the Detroit Red Wings in the first round, they also continue to have to deal with the off-ice crap as their team is being used as a political and populist football by way too many entities. Home wasn’t kind to the Desert Dogs last night and they are now in a 0-3 hole to Detroit.
- Vancouver can complete the sweep and put the Blackhawks out of their misery tonight at United Center. The biggest challenge for the Canucks may be handling the long layoff to follow.
- Tonight’s playoff schedule – All Game 3’s – Vancouver @ Chicago 7pm CDT (Versus, CBC), San Jose @ Los Angeles 9:30pm CDT (Versus, TSN)
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