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Hello and welcome all to my
inaugural column here at Puckin’ Around. I’d like to first take the
time to thank Adam Hill for the opportunity to have my say here on his
site, and for allowing me to inject a bit of ‘uLAr’ into the re-design
of the site. I hope you all enjoy it, and feel free to mail me at the
e-mail address below for any suggestions or requests. I’d also like to
urge you all to take advantage of one of hockey’s greatest minds I’ve
come across and e-mail your questions to the ASK PUCKIN section
of the site and let Adam respond to them. It’s your chance to have a
say, and your questions will be posted on the site, as we try to make
this a more interactive site than before. OK, with all my plugs out of
the way, on with my background…
I
haven’t been a Devils fan forever. I am a typical French-Canadian (
lived all my life in Ottawa ), and like most French-Canadians, I grew up
idolizing the Habs. Thank God for the Chris Chelios trade in 1990, or I
would most likely still be a Habs fan and not even be aware that hockey
existed outside the Bell Center and La Soirée du Hockey! When
Serge Savard traded Chelios away to the Chicago Blackhawks, something
inside me tore. How could my favorite player in the game possibly go
play for a team other than my Canadiens ? What was I to do ? Cheer for
*groan* the Blackhawks ? They didn’t have Patrick Roy, Shayne Corson,
Mats Naslund, Stéphane Richer and all those other players I idolized.
They had some guy called Belfour in goal that had only come on during
the playoffs, Steve Larmer and Steve Thomas as scorers, a kid called
Jeremy Roenick who was supposed to be the future, and a bunch of other
players I didn’t know, or never cared to know. They had just lost the
Conference Finals to the Minnesota North Stars, while my Habs failed to
make the Finals a second year in a row, losing to the Bruins in a series
that went all the way to 7 games. I was faced with a dilemma over the
summer. Who would I cheer for once the 1990-91 season would begin ?
I
became a Blackhawks fan all the way up until the 1996-97 season, when a
goaltender, Martin Brodeur got my attention and turned me into a New
Jersey Devils fan for good. His 1.88 GAA and 0.927 Save Percentage
could not be ignored ! The team counted many stars and were solidly
coached by a familiar person, ex-Montreal coach Jacques Lemaire, who is
today know as the innovator of “The Trap”, a defensive system designed
to clog up the neutral zone and force turnovers, or to bore hockey fans,
depending on your opinion. Say what you want about the system, it won
New Jersey a Stanley Cup, and almost back-to-back Stanley Cups ( that
damn Raymond Bourque ) ! It’s also made a believer out of all the
Minnesota Wild fans out there this year, where Lemaire is proving to all
that a defense-first system is what wins hockey games, which brings me
to my subject.
Even
more dangerous than a team that’s great at playing the Trap is a team
that boasts great offensive skill and has tremendous skaters. The
Ottawa Senators. They out-scored the Philadelphia Flyers 10-3 in the
final 2 games of the series, and are facing off against New Jersey in
the Eastern Conference Finals. So far, the road has been easy for New
Jersey, having faced a poor defensive team in the Boston Bruins, and an
inexperienced Tampa Bay team. The true test is now. What a tough time
it is to be a Devils fan right now ! As an Ottawa boy, I’ve been caught
up in Sens fever over here, and must say that the Sens look ready to go
all the way. The series against Philadelphia was tough on them, but it
also seems like it rallied the team, and since they have advanced to the
Conference Finals for the first time in their recent history, the Sens
have lifted that huge load off their shoulders and should truly feel
like the pressure has lifted, if that’s even possible at this stage.
No
doubt, this will be the biggest series in Sens history, and it’s the
biggest test the Devils will face to date. Brodeur is known to be a
cool performer in goal, and prone to steal a game or two in the
playoffs. He will need to be at his best here. The problem for the
Devils however, is coverage. In their last two series, the Madden line
was in charge of ( and successfully ) shut down the other team’s # 1
line. Thornton for Boston, Lecavalier in Tampa Bay. Ottawa has four
lines that can score on any given night, and Pat Burns will have to
choose whether to play the Madden line against Hossa, Alfredsson or
Havlat’s line. Even if Madden is double-shifted, he still can’t shut
down three lines by himself. The rest of the Devils will have to step
it up.
Another
area that has worked for the Devils up to now is the intimidation
factor. We’ve seen the Lightning avoid coming in on Scott Steven’s side
of the ice, from fear of the repercussions of being hit by the captain.
Ottawa has shown that they are not going to be intimidated in their
series with Philadelphia, something that will hurt the Devils. All in
all, I just don’t see how New Jersey can win this one. But its playoff
time, a time where players are expected to elevate their games, and even
underdogs ( if you can call New Jersey underdogs ) can knock out the
defending champs, whether it be the Stanley Cup Champions (
Cuuuuuuuujooooooooo ), or the President Trophy winners, and the Devils
know a lot about that. They have two Conn Smythe trophy winners in
their lineup ( Stevens and Nieuwendyk ) who have been to the show, and
know what it takes to win it all. They have the experience. They have
the hunger. Will it be enough ? It’s a tough call, so let’s break it
down:
|
|
SENS |
GRADE |
DEVILS |
GRADE |
EDGE |
|
OFFENSE |
Threats:
Hossa, Bonk, Alfredsson, Havlat, Smolinski,
Varada, White.
Non-Factors:
Arvedson, Hull, Van Allen
Dark Horses:
Schaefer, Fisher, Neil
Goals For: 30
Avg Goals For: 2.73
|
A |
Threats:
Madden, Langenbrunner, Gomez, Elias, Friesen.
Non-Factors:
Stevenson, McKenzie, Rheaume
Dark Horses:
Gionta, Nieuwendyk, Marshall, Brylin
Goals For: 27
Avg Goals For: 2.70 |
A - |
Sens |
|
DEFENSE |
Threats:
Chara, Redden, Philips, Volchenkov.
Non-Factors:
Hnidy, Pothier, Leschyshyn.
Dark Horses:
Rachunek. |
B + |
Threats:
Niedermayer, Stevens, Rafalski, Tverdovsky.
Non-Factors:
Albelin, Daneyko.
Dark Horses:
Smehlik, White
|
A
|
Devils |
|
GOALTENDING |
Lalime
GAA: 1.49
Save %: .937
|
A + |
Brodeur
GAA: 1.51
Save %: .941 |
A + |
Even |
|
SPECIAL TEAMS |
PP %: 18.5
PK %: 93.5
* Ottawa has 2 SHG |
A + |
PP %: 18.4
PK %: 85.7
|
B |
Sens |
|
COACHING |
Martin |
A
|
Burns |
A |
Even |
|
DEPTH |
Spezza, Ray, Prusek |
A
|
Schwab, Bicek |
B - |
Sens |
|
EXPERIENCE |
1st appearance in Conference
Finals. |
B |
3rd
appearance in 4 years in Conference Finals. |
A |
Devils |
|
OVERALL |
SENS WIN 3 - 2
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