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More Stuff... by Michael Dell, Editor-in-Chief
SECOND ROUND PREVIEW Of the eight first-round series, I only called four winners and tagged only two of those in the exact number of games. That's not too good. Granted, I did go out on definite limbs in picking Carolina and Philadelphia, but Mark Twain used to say that you shouldn't be scared to go out on a limb because that's where the fruit is. Yeah, that Mark Twain used to say a lot of stupid things. The point of all this is that you really shouldn't pay any attention to the following predictions for the second round. I would have done something more extensive, but the issue deadline really didn't permit the time needed. Plus, you know, I just don't care anymore. So this is going to be all quick like. Eastern Conference Pittsburgh (8) vs Toronto (4): Pittsburgh is going to be flying high. And Curtis Joseph is usually only good for one playoff win a year. Pittsburgh in six. Buffalo (7) vs Boston (6): This should be a tight series. Byron Dafoe and Dominik Hasek were the two leading Vezina candidates. Hasek will win the Vezina, and he'll win this series. Buffalo in six. Western Conference St. Louis (5) vs Dallas (1): Let's go out on another limb. Mark Twain has to be right sometime. St. Louis in seven. Detroit (3) vs Colorado (2): The prayers of hockey fans everywhere have been answered. There's nothing quite like a Detroit-Colorado playoff series. This is going to be quality. Everyone's on the Detroit bandwagon, but it's about to hit a serious bump in the road. When Colorado plays with passion, there isn't a better team in hockey. Detroit will bring out that fire. Look for the Avalanche in six. And if you want to get real crazy, take Detroit in Games Two and Three.
JAGR SHOWS HART Jagr wasn't much of a factor in Game One. Scott Stevens kept him under wraps the majority of the time and the Devils prevailed 3- 1. Late in the contest, Jagr was driving the left wing when Scott Niedermayer put a hook into him, twisting the Czech Wonder Kid's leg awkwardly and aggravating a chronic groin problem. Jagr would sit out the next four games; the first two were won by the Penguins, the final two by El Diablo.
With his team now trailing 3-2 in the series and on the verge of elimination, Jagr still wasn't sure if he would be able to play in the pivotal Game Six. Once again people began to question his heart; his willingness to play with pain. Scott Stevens even came out in the New Jersey papers and said that there's no way he'd miss four playoff games with a groin injury. Pressure was on Jagr. And it didn't look like he was going to answer the call. When I woke up this past Sunday morning... well, when I woke up this past Sunday afternoon... okay, when I sobered up in the middle of the second period to watch Game Six, I didn't expect to see Jagr on the ice. I didn't think he had it in him. But there he was. Ol' number 68 was indeed on the ice. That deserves a wow. And here's the kicker... he was actually competing, not just skating around making designs in the ice. Knowing that he didn't have his usual stride, Jaromir decided to opt for a positional game instead of his usual skating variety. He didn't feel strong enough to carry play through center. Instead, he instructed his linemates to get the puck deep. That was music to Constantine's ears. The Penguins played some of their best hockey of the season in the four games that Jagr missed, due mainly to their commitment to dumping the puck and forechecking like champs. There was some concern that when Jagr returned it would be business as usual. But Jaromir didn't rock the boat. The Birds played as a team and battled the Devils every inch of the way. Then, when the game was on the line, Jagr stepped up. With his club trailing 2-1 late in the third period, coach Constantine used some of that there strategy stuff and employed Alexei Kovalev on defense. The Penguins had failed on two straight attempts to work the puck up ice through New Jersey's trap when Kovalev gathered the biscuit in his own zone. Soon as I saw the Russian magician start his journey up ice, I knew something interesting was about to happen. Kovalev's a one-man wrecking crew of defensive schemes. He just danced and weaved his way through center, using his unearthly stickhandling and skating skills to bewilder the Devil defense before sliding a nifty backhand pass to a charging Jagr. Trap broken. The league's leading scorer barged over the blue line, backed Stevens and Scott Niedermayer off, and chipped a pass through to German Titov driving the right wing. Stevens, who had been beaten on the play, was able to reach in and momentarily poke the puck away from Titov as he bore down on Martin Brodeur, but the Penguin winger recovered as he was swinging behind the Devil cage and stuffed a shot into Brodeur's pads. Niedermayer had left Jagr to cover up for Stevens, but the Devil captain was slow to switch. That was all the time Jagr needed to swoop in and smack the rebound between Brodeur's pads to tie the score 2-2 with 2:12 remaining in regulation, and Pittsburgh's playoff lives. So there's Jagr, bad groin and all, coming through when his team needed it most. It was just so... so... so Mario. But it gets better. The scene is overtime. Marty Straka, the li'l Czech Dynamo, blows right around Niedermayer along the left wing boards, leaving the fleet-footed Devil defender a tangled mess on the ice. Straka then cut his way to the net and drew the attention of both Stevens and Brodeur, only to fire a bullet of a pass through the slot to a cutting Jagr who buried the game- winner with a Selanne-esque snap shot. More on that later. Needless to say, the Civic Arena went crazy go nuts. Jagr, the team's hero and icon, came through yet again in the clutch. The kid's got a flair for the dramatic. Had it not been for seeing Mario Lemieux in the blue seats at the Igloo with my own eyes, I would have sworn it was 66 and not 68 providing the heroics. Jagr proved something to me by simply showing up to play. I truly didn't think he had it in him. That whole scoring-the- game-tying-and-game-winning-goals thing was a nice touch, but he won me over with his mere presence and competitive play. I'll never make fun of him again. Unless, you know, he does something stupid. But I swear I'll never question his heart again. Honest. Now, back to that Selanne-esque game-winning goal. During his time off Jagr was watching some tapes of the Finnish Flash, studying how he snaps his one-timers. "Last week, I changed the way I shoot (one-timers)," said Jagr at the post-game press conference. "I was looking at Teemu Selanne because I think he's the best at that. He's got some kind of tricky play the way he switches the hands, and I was trying to do the same thing in practice. When I knew Marty beat the guy, I just did the same thing like Teemu Selanne did. I was waiting for the chance, and it worked." I'm not really sure what the hell Jagr's talking about when he says "some kind of tricky play the way he switches the hands", but apparently he's referring to how Selanne will drop his bottom hand to get more leverage on the shot. Jagr definitely dug deep on the winner, lacing a perfectly placed snapper over a sprawling Brodeur. And it had to be perfect, because Brodeur almost got to it with his glove. Thank you, Teemu.
DON'T BLAME THE REFS Having said that, there's no excuse for blaming the stripes when you lose a game. The last time I checked, there's never been a referee that's scored a goal or made a defensive mistake. Great players and teams recognize their weaknesses and correct them. Losers blame the refs. Which brings us to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs sent the Flyers packing in the first round, again, with a 1-0 victory in Game Six. The deciding goal was scored by Sergei Berezin on the power play with just one minute left in regulation. The Leafs received the man-advantage after John "I'm a 230-pound choir boy" LeClair was whistled for elbowing Mike Johnson behind the Flyer net. Wouldn't you know it, LeClair takes like three penalties a year and this one costs his club. Doesn't seem fair. The Flyers didn't think the call by Terry Gregson was fair. The men in orange and black were irate at the time of the alleged infraction and only got more maniacal after the goal was allowed. Gregson was followed off the ice by several barking Flyers as the Philly fans pelted the officials with rocks and garbage. Following the game, Flyer chairman Ed Snider went buckwild in front of reporters, tearing Gregson to shreds and saying that the officials had decided the game. Weak. Granted, the call was a bit questionable. Although, the first time I saw it at full speed I thought it was an elbow, too. Only after seeing it again in slow motion could I tell that LeClair really didn't deliver a blow with his elbow as much as he lifted his arm after making contact with his shoulder. But then again, I'm not that bright. So maybe it was an obvious no-call to everyone else. Even Mike Johnson said he didn't think there would be a call when it happened. But I, for one, could see why Gregson raised his arm. And while Snider was quick to blame the refs, he neglected to mention that the Flyers had six power plays in the game, one more than the Leafs, including five straight man-advantages from the middle of the second to the middle of the third. The refs aren't the reason why the Flyers lost the game. Their inability to score on the power play or to kill off a single two- minute minor when it counted is why they lost. And if John Vanbiesbrouck knew how to stop pathetic backhand shots from bad angles the whole thing would be a moot point at best. At least the injured Eric Lindros spoke the truth, saying that the Flyers shouldn't blame the officiating for the loss. One of the few times Eric shows some real leadership in his career and he isn't even playing. Go figure.
OZOLINSH OZO-RIFFIC! Ozolinsh was at his best in Game Six. Not only did he supply the clutch tying goal late in the third period with a supersonic slap shot, but the Loopy Latvian continued to press the attack into the overtime, jumping up on the play at every opportunity. It's like watching old school Paul Coffey. In an era of stagnant offenses and defensemen that are scared to make mistakes rather than striving to make great plays, Ozolinsh is a breath of fresh air. He's the last of the true offensive defensemen. Enjoy him while you can before his breed becomes extinct.
PLAYOFFS COOLNESS UPDATE
1. Marty Straka, Pittsburgh Penguins
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