Ahh yes, the second season. A time when wins, losses and, yes, even shootout losses don’t matter.
A time when games start to take on a new intensity, a new sense of urgency and a greater sense of importance. It’s a time when enemies meet, where feuds start and rivalries are reborn.
Which is exactly what these NHL playoffs should bring.
The last, and perhaps the strongest, of the old original six rivalries is set to start once again this week when the number one seeded Montreal Canadiens take on the eighth seeded Boston Bruins. But first, a little history.
As far back as the 1950s, the Bruins faced the Habs in heated series. They met in the finals three times that decade, with the Habs winning all three.
In 1971 they played an epic seven-game series that went right down to the wire. Led by Bobby Orr, the Bruins were clear favourites to win the Cup that season, posting a 57-14-7 season, by far the best in the league. However, the Canadiens, backstopped by a young Ken Dryden, would win in seven games, the last a 4-2 thriller. They would go on to beat Chicago and win the Cup that season.
In 1977 the two teams met again, the first of two consecutive Finals meetings. The Canadiens would roll over them, sweeping the series. The next year, the Canadiens would win again, this time in six games, two of which went into overtime.
But an alignment in the playoff format would lead to them meeting Stanley Cup Semifinal the next season. This series would go the distance, with neither team taking a stronghold in the series. Neither team lost on home ice for the first six games of the series, forcing a climatic game seven in the Montreal Forum.
And was it ever a classic. All night it was back and forth, with neither team taking a strong lead. But s goal by Rick Middleton gave the Bruins a lead of 4-3 late in the third and the Bruins looked to upset the Canadiens.
However, with victory looking imminent, the Bruins fouled up a line change and took a too many men on the ice penalty in the final minutes of play.
The Canadiens would score on the ensuing power play, forcing overtime, and would score again, putting a dramatic cap on the series. The Canadiens would beat the New York Rangers in the next round, winnng their fourth Cup in a row and their sixth of the decade.
It was the fourteenth time that the Bruins had lost to the Canadiens, and the rivalry increasingly looked one-sided. After all, the Bruins had been a great team in the 1970s. Eight times they had finished with 100 points or more and had won their division seven times. They had won two Stanley Cups and had hall of fame players like Orr, Phil Esposito, Terry O’Reilly and Brad Park. Yet still, they couldn’t past the Canadiens in the playoffs, who dominated the decade.
They wouldn’t meet in the playoffs again until 1984, when they met for the first of four first-round meetings. While the Canadiens would win all four, the Bruins forced a game five in 1985 and lost 1-0.
However, 1988 was a turning point. Meeting in the Adams final – then the second round of the playoffs – they beat the Canadiens in five games. It was the first time they had beaten the Canadiens in the playoffs since 1943 and was the first of four series wins they would have over the next five seasons, including their first ever seventh-game win in 1991.
They met only once more that decade, in a 1994 series that again went seven games.
Since then they have met twice, in 2002 and 2004, with Montreal winning both times.
So, what then of this series? The Bruins sneaked into the playoffs finishing just one win above Carolina for the final spot. Their record, 41-29-12, puts them basically at .500, and they were outscored this season – the only playoff team to have been so.
But in most statistics, their goalie, Tim Thomas ranks higher then Carey Price, the Habs netminder. Thomas won 28 games this season, three of them shutouts, and his save percentage of .921 is the fourth-best in the league. His GAA is lower then Price’s and he’s stopped over 400 more shots, too.
And he’ll need to keep that up against a greay Canadiens offense. Right-winger Alex Kovalev led the team with 35 goals and 84 points. Four players scored 25 or more goals and six had fifty or more points. As a team they scored 262 goals, the most in the league.
However, injuries have taken their toll on them. Saku Koivu is out and Mike Komisarek is questionable. They’re two players the Habs will miss.
If this analysis sounds a little one-sided, that’s because the series mostly will be. It’ll come down to how well Boston’s defence and goaltending can handle the onslaught of Montreal’s multi-tiered offence, not the other way around. If Boston wants to win, they’ll have to keep Montreal on the defensive, where they’re not as sharp.
It’ll be tough, but it’s possible. Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling of a Montreal victory as anything but inevitable, especially given the history involved.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
March Madness running blog six - Duke goes cold
In basketball they say that you can’t teach size – that a team needs to have a big man. San Antonio has Tim Duncan, Boston has Kevin Garnett and the Lakers have Pau Gasol. You need a big guy, no matter the level, so you can have an inside game.
Duke, needless to say, doesn’t have an inside game.
They’re a shooting team, and they started off the game shooting exceptionally well. But n the second half, they ran cold and ran themselves to an early exit.
During a long stretch in the second half, Duke kept hoisting up threes and kept missing – at one point, they missed 16 straight shots. Their lack of an inside game kept their offence at standstill – they couldn’t hit a shot and with four players standing outside the arc, they weren’t getting rebounds.
At the end of the game, they only grabbed 19 rebounds, with just five of them offensive.
And their defence buckled under this pressure as West Virginia kept coming at them with great ball movement and a strong inside presence. They were going backdoor on Duke, they were getting open looks and, worst of all, they were killer from the charity stripe, sinking 19 of 22 free throws.
But this was nothing new for the Blue Devils. Against Baylor, they showed the same problems: when they went cold, they couldn’t get anything going. It took Henderson to pick them up and carry to the next round, a feat he wasn’t able to accomplish twice in one weekend.
Scoring 18 and going seven for 10 from the line, Henderson led the team in scoring. But he was out rebounded and was a team-best five for nine from the floor. Of their starters, only two hit three or more baskets.
But credit is due to the West Virginia Mountaineers. Down by five at the half, they rallied and overtook the Blue Devils. Lead them was Jason Alexander, who had a double-double, scoring 22 and grabbing 11 rebounds as they rallied back. Also having a great game was Joe Mazzulla, who scored 13 and grabbed 11 off the bench.
Give them their due – they helped mount a second half comeback and upset the number-two ranked Blue Devils. But this was Duke’s game to lose, which they very much did.
Duke, needless to say, doesn’t have an inside game.
They’re a shooting team, and they started off the game shooting exceptionally well. But n the second half, they ran cold and ran themselves to an early exit.
During a long stretch in the second half, Duke kept hoisting up threes and kept missing – at one point, they missed 16 straight shots. Their lack of an inside game kept their offence at standstill – they couldn’t hit a shot and with four players standing outside the arc, they weren’t getting rebounds.
At the end of the game, they only grabbed 19 rebounds, with just five of them offensive.
And their defence buckled under this pressure as West Virginia kept coming at them with great ball movement and a strong inside presence. They were going backdoor on Duke, they were getting open looks and, worst of all, they were killer from the charity stripe, sinking 19 of 22 free throws.
But this was nothing new for the Blue Devils. Against Baylor, they showed the same problems: when they went cold, they couldn’t get anything going. It took Henderson to pick them up and carry to the next round, a feat he wasn’t able to accomplish twice in one weekend.
Scoring 18 and going seven for 10 from the line, Henderson led the team in scoring. But he was out rebounded and was a team-best five for nine from the floor. Of their starters, only two hit three or more baskets.
But credit is due to the West Virginia Mountaineers. Down by five at the half, they rallied and overtook the Blue Devils. Lead them was Jason Alexander, who had a double-double, scoring 22 and grabbing 11 rebounds as they rallied back. Also having a great game was Joe Mazzulla, who scored 13 and grabbed 11 off the bench.
Give them their due – they helped mount a second half comeback and upset the number-two ranked Blue Devils. But this was Duke’s game to lose, which they very much did.
March Madness running blog five
“A 12 always beats a 5,” said my French Canadian friend told me as I showed her my bracket. She was referring to Villanova, I believe and I’m sure she’s laughing now.
Not me. I had Clemson making the sweet 16.
And maybe they would have too, if they had sank some shots towards the end of the game. All throughout the first half, they put up a big lead before going cold at the end of the half. And as the second half started, they never quite got back on track. After Villanova clawed their way back and took the lead halfway into the second half, the Tigers never really got close again, save for a late rush.
This is thanks, in part, to some great scoring off Villanova’s bench. Both Antonio Pena and Corey Fisher scored in double digits off the bench, getting 17 and 12 respectively. Additionally, they shot well from the charity stripe, hitting 83% of their shots. On the same hand, poor shooting plagued Clemson, who hit only 38 per cent of their shots, missing five late in the game – where a tied game with 1:40 left slowly dwindled to a six-point loss.
Elsewhere on the night, Indiana and Arkansas clashed in a battle of 8 and 9 seeds. The Hoosiers threatened them early on, but Arkansas slowly pulled away, never trailing for three-quarters of the game.
Granted, Indiana didn’t go away quietly. They kept hitting their shots and closed the gap to two points at one point in the second half. But that was as close as they would get, as the Razorbacks shot out the lights, hitting over half their shots and nearly 80 per cent from the line.
Meanwhile, Louisville destroyed Boise State, never once giving up a lead in a game they controlled from start to finish, as did Memphis against Texas-Arlington. Nothing much to report about those games, other then they didn’t get much viewing time on my TV.
All in all, day two of March Madness was a pretty solid day, with two instant classic games and a handful of fun games. Sure, my bracket is a little worse for the wear, but whos isn’t?
Not me. I had Clemson making the sweet 16.
And maybe they would have too, if they had sank some shots towards the end of the game. All throughout the first half, they put up a big lead before going cold at the end of the half. And as the second half started, they never quite got back on track. After Villanova clawed their way back and took the lead halfway into the second half, the Tigers never really got close again, save for a late rush.
This is thanks, in part, to some great scoring off Villanova’s bench. Both Antonio Pena and Corey Fisher scored in double digits off the bench, getting 17 and 12 respectively. Additionally, they shot well from the charity stripe, hitting 83% of their shots. On the same hand, poor shooting plagued Clemson, who hit only 38 per cent of their shots, missing five late in the game – where a tied game with 1:40 left slowly dwindled to a six-point loss.
Elsewhere on the night, Indiana and Arkansas clashed in a battle of 8 and 9 seeds. The Hoosiers threatened them early on, but Arkansas slowly pulled away, never trailing for three-quarters of the game.
Granted, Indiana didn’t go away quietly. They kept hitting their shots and closed the gap to two points at one point in the second half. But that was as close as they would get, as the Razorbacks shot out the lights, hitting over half their shots and nearly 80 per cent from the line.
Meanwhile, Louisville destroyed Boise State, never once giving up a lead in a game they controlled from start to finish, as did Memphis against Texas-Arlington. Nothing much to report about those games, other then they didn’t get much viewing time on my TV.
All in all, day two of March Madness was a pretty solid day, with two instant classic games and a handful of fun games. Sure, my bracket is a little worse for the wear, but whos isn’t?
Friday, March 21, 2008
March Madness running blog four
Went out for dinner, and didn't get back in time to watch a whole lot.
I did see an over-ranked Oregon falter and wilt to Mississippi State, though, which everybody should have seen coming. Why was a 14 loss team in the tournament, let alone seeded 9? Why did Arizona get in? Why didn't VCU, Michigan or Syracuse get in?
Must be because the Pac-10 is so strong. Thanks a lot, Mayo and Love.
I did see an over-ranked Oregon falter and wilt to Mississippi State, though, which everybody should have seen coming. Why was a 14 loss team in the tournament, let alone seeded 9? Why did Arizona get in? Why didn't VCU, Michigan or Syracuse get in?
Must be because the Pac-10 is so strong. Thanks a lot, Mayo and Love.
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