|
NHL Play-offs from TSN Studio |
|
|
|
|
|
For the past 3 play-offs I have had the opportunity to work at TSN in Toronto. This year I am in the chair for the 1st 2 rounds of NHL action and then I will join the IIHF World Championship set as the tourney begins May 2nd and ends on May 18th.
We have had a great time on the set, as James Duthie, Mike Milbury, Darren Dreger, Bob McKenzie and Mark Recchi and I hang out, drink lots of coffee and watch every game before breaking it down and then b ring it to the people on Sportscentre in Canada and between periods during action on TSN.
The games have been great, and very difficult to predict. The 2nd round will will test us all.
My record in the 1st round was an unacceptable 5-3.
I picked Anaheim, SJ, Detroit, Colorado in the West and Montreal, Pittsburgh, Washington and New Jersey in the East.
In the 2nd round I have picked:
Colorado ( the Forsberg injury and Theodore sickness is going to bite alot of us, I'm sure) in 7
SJ in 6
Montreal in 6
Pittsburgh in 7
Things I have really liked in the play-offs so far:
The little guy with the big heart. Stephane Robidas and his courage after taking a puck to the face, getting stitched up, and returning with a cage and setting up the GWG and scoring himself. Doesn't get much better than that.
Patrick Marleau and his play in the 1st round. I believe for perception sake, amongst other things, he needed to get hit like he did when Corey Sarich drilled him. He gets up, blood on the face, not much concern or reaction, and all he did was lead by example in the win over Calgary. Great start for a guy that was a shell of himself for the the majority of the season, following last years play-off collapse vs Detroit.
Pavel Datsyuk and his magic hands, and great 2 way ability. This guy cares. He is as good as any forward in the NHL. He battles for pucks, always puts his head down and comes back into his own zone, never takes a shift off. He is the key to Detroits entry into the offensive zone.He makes it look effortless, and we all know it is not.
The 3 headed monster at center ice for Dallas. I love smaller players that can make a play, and Dallas has 2 of them. Mike Modano would be 3 if you look at his weight, but he is 6'2. In the regular season, before they acquired Richards from TB, i thought they would have trouble in a 7 game series. Now they have 3 tremendous players, that know their role and can all make a play. The fact that Modano has taken on the role of checking center, along with Ott and Barnes, has been a huge plus. This allows Ribeiro to play with Morrow and Lehtinen and Richards to play with Hagman and Eriksson or Lundqvist.
Philly has been fun to watch and the development of Braydon Coburn has been exceptional. Coach John Stevens has proven to be good when it comes to preparation and attention to details, not to mention match ups and game plans.
The Top 3 centers on the Flyers after round 1 had this to show for their work:
Briere: 6-5-11
Richards: 2-5-7
Carter: 3-1-4
Here are a few negatives:
Goaltender interference. Game by game calls are far too inconsistent. I would like to see more "incidental contact" where the play is blown dead, face off at center and no goal. I am not saying every situation has to be a no goal and a penalty, just use hockey sense.
One piece sticks breaking when there is stick on stick, doesn't always mean there should be a penalty. There are many times where a player has blocked a shot, so the stick is weakened, and then a player puts pressure on that same players stick and it breaks. It is not always a penalty because the stick is in two pieces.
On that same note, maybe top centerman should have a thick piece of lumber, or at least a re-inforced composite stick, on the bench and ready for a late game, period, face-off in your own end. Would that have made a difference in game 1 when Carters stick exploded? Why can't a company make a special " late game, centerman's face off stick?"
I can't wait for the Ruuttu vs Avery antics in the Rangers series. Can we show this on HBO with all the audio? I am sure the comments will be all world.
Since I have been in Canada throughout the play-offs, I havent seen much on Versus in the States, but was disappointed they didn't include my regular season partner, Dave Strader for any games in the 2nd round after he did 7 games in the opening round. Go figure.
The Coyotes Kyle Turris is in Canada's training camp in Quebec City. It is very unlikely that he will play once the tourney starts but once again, this shows the great vision of Hockey Canada in giving a young man the chance to experience what they are all about. Turris has played in the World Juniors, The under 18's, and the Summit Series vs Russia representing Canada.
Great to see Ed Jovonovski and Shane Doan representing the Coyotes and Canada, while Radim Vrbata, Martin Hanzal and Zybenik Michalek will do the same for the Czech Republic, Niko Kapanen for the Finn's, Peter Mueller and Keith Ballard for the USA.
Panger
Join the Discussion:
»