Thursday, May 24, 2007

Tuesday May 22

With the Anaheim Ducks staring their second Stanley Cup Final berth in the face they did not disappoint. Despite nearly blowing a late 3 goal lead the Ducks pulled off the 4-3 win at home over the Detroit Redwings. With the win the Ducks took the series 4 wins to 2. For the second straight game it was hard to find Former Islander Todd Bertuzzi anywhere. Here is a look at the FI numbers:
  • Bertuzzi's ice time was slashed for a consecutive night as he clocked only 13:00 in total ice time. He managed 2 shots on goal and finished -1 on the game. In sum he finished the playoffs with a modest 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points in 16 games. He logged 15 penalty minutes, 1 powerplay goal and assist apiece, 24 shots and finished -2 overall.
  • With the exit of the Redwings there are officially no Former Islanders left in the chase for the Cup.
  • Despite the best efforts of Dominik Hasek is a disappointment that the Redwing coaching staff decided never to start or even let Chris Osgood play. Osgood was unbeatable in regulation since the beginning of January. But then again, Hasek is the goalie of the future, right? With one of the oldest goaltending tandems in the league it seems the wheels were eventually going to fall off of this final line of defense. All we have to say is: poor Ozzie.
  • A rare moment in hockey history will occur when the Ottawa Senators or Anaheim Ducks hoist the Stanley Cup in the ensuing week or so. The league will crown its 3rd first time winning franchise in a row (Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and Ducks/Sens). There haven't been this many first time winners in a row since 1914-1918 when the Toronto Blueshirts, Vancouver Millionaires, Montreal Canadiens, Seattle Metropolitans and Toronto Arenas all won in a row. Those winners spanned 3 different hockey championship formats! The Blueshirts won in the waning days of the Champions Cup, while the middle three won in the age of the shortlived NHA-PCHA championship and the Arenas were the first winner in the equally shortlived NHL-PCHA era.

Check back soon as the Stanley Cup Final kicks off on Monday night.

No comments: