2004 NHL Playoffs: Round 1 (2 Viewers)

[Mark Dubbelboer]

i don't know. the score may have been lopsided, but the play definitely wasn't.
there was a stretch in the second period where calgary was taking it to them, but tampa answered right back with a couple chances of their own. then the donovan goal happened on the counter-attack.

i mean, tampa had two clear cut breakaways, they bury either of those and this game woulda been a lot more intense coming down the stretch.

 

[Sami Kallio]

That why I said earlier that the game will come down to goalie performance. While both goalies are brilliant, it will be these very small differences that will determine the outcome of the game. Mostly this series will be about luck, which teams has more than the other. Neither team is outplaying the other despite the numbers.

 

[Greg*go]

I heard that throughout the Flyers play-off run. It was common knowledge in the city that "whatever goalie can stand on his head the best" was going to win the different series. It really is wonderful/horrible how a hot goalie can change the outcome of a series.

 

[Merimac Hamwich]

You're giving too much credit to the goalies. Just take game two for example, Kiprusoff played amazing, but the guys infront of him didn't.

GOALIES (GOALS-SHOTS AGAINST)
1 2 3 T
CGY(L) KIPRUSOFF 1-8 0-10 3-13 4-31 (87.1% Save Percentage)
T.B(W) KHABIBULIN 0-6 0-9 1-4 1-19 (94.7% Save Percentage)

Yes, Khabby did have a better save percentage, but the Shots on Target disparity is HUGE. Twice as many shots on Kipper than on Bulin. And as we humans aren't robots, it is inevitable that the more opportunity there is for a mistake, the likelier we will make that mistake. As such, from those numbers, it is obvious there was much more opportunity for Kipp to make a mistake that Khabby.

Here are the game 1 and game 2 goalie stats, respectively.
GOALIES (GOALS-SHOTS AGAINST)
1 2 3 T
CGY(W) KIPRUSOFF 0-10 0-8 1-6 1-24
T.B(L) KHABIBULIN 1-5 2-10 1-4 4-19

GOALIES (GOALS-SHOTS AGAINST)
1 2 3 T
T.B(L) KHABIBULIN 0-2 2-12 1-4 3-18
CGY(W) KIPRUSOFF 0-5 0-6 0-10 0-21

Notice there is a much smaller Shot disparity in these two games presenting more equal opportunity for screw ups.

Ofcourse, goalie performance is very important, but throughout, Kiprusoff and Khabibulin haven't had all that much of a change in performance. Just the guys infront of em.

It's also important to notice the period breakdowns, not just the totals.

Perhaps I am not making my point believable by presenting these stats. Anyhow, I think goalie performance is taking too much of a spotlight though. It's a team sport.

P.S.

At least if those stats don't prove my point, they do prove that Kiprusoff is a better goalie than Khabibulin.

 

[Micheal]

I agree. A couple of breakaways and the goalie "may" be able to stop them. If the defence decides to take a vacation... the goalie doesn't stand a chance. We've all seen a great goalie make 2 great saves in a flurry but unable to stop the third shot because he simply can't move from side to side that fast. (And because the defence is just watching the play and chasing the puck without taking the man.)

Great goalies can look foolish with a bad defense core in front of them. It's a team game.

As for the game.... I knew that when Iginla dropped the gloves that Calgary was going to take game 3. The whole team came together after the fight and never looked stronger. Even the PP looked good!

 

[Sami Kallio]

Maybe my memory is getting bad but I don't think either of the defenses have been bad, despite the scores. Neither of the goalies either. Just fast paced hockey that creates nice scoring changes and goals have come in patches when they have started to come.

Only Calgary has been outplayed in game 2 but penalties were the main cause. I am not disputing that this isn't a team sports. If either team wasn't as good as they are, this would be no contest but since they are quite equal, it will come down to these small mistakes (if you can call them that) by goalies. It's the shot that no-one can blame you for not making the save but you could have pulled a little magic there...

That's where the game will be decided but as a whole it will be the team that wins it. If either one starts sub-performing then not even a hot goalie can change it as both teams have one.

 

[Micheal]

Exactly my point. I agree 100%

 

[Mark Dubbelboer]

well i'm stuck at work.
i told my boss the flames can't lose if i'm watching the game and she said good and made me stay!
stupid flames hater. i don't understand how ppl can live in southern alberta and not love the flames.

i am so putting signs/banners/flames logos all over her car tomorrow

i heard ruslan fedetenko (sp?) was out. i'm not really sure why. he got his face smashed up pretty good, but i never heard anything back about the x-rays. i'm assuming either some sort of concussion or a broken jaw. we probably won't hear anything till it's all done of course.

go flames go!

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Well, now that the Lakers have clinched, and don't play again until Sunday, I can watch the hockey in peace. I did see a little bit of the game tonight, but not enough to comment on it.

This might sound real obvious, but I think whoever can manage to string together more than 1 victory in a row has a great shot to win the series. I mean that's been Tampa Bay's thing the past 2 series win 1 lose 1, and they have to do it in this series because if they go by the 1 win followed by a loss they can't win the series.

I'm pumped for the last 3 games (of course game 7 is if necessary)

Go Flames Go

PS. Although I love the Lakers, one reason I like the NHL over the NBA in general is that in the playoffs you don't have teams with a freakin week off in between games, like you did in round 1 of the NBA playoffs or so it felt like anyway.

 

[nolesrule]

It just seemed like the Lightning played the whole game one man short, due to the injuries to the key guys. It wasn't just Fedotenko that the Bolts were without. Pavel Kubina too. So no leading goal scorer, and no key point man (Kubina) on the power play and penalty kill.

Took a 5-on-3 just to get the only goal in the game. Both goalies played nearly flawlessly. Unbelievable performances.

As for the 5-on-3, it was stupid for Clark to take the unnecessary penalty when he knew there was already a delayed penalty called on the Flames. It affected the entire flow of the last 57 minutes of the game.

And Niemenen's 5-min major and game misconduct was a good call, considering the cut went to Vinny's skull and required 10 stitches to close up. So Iginla was wrong about Vinny faking injury. It could possible have been called as a double minor, but I think the officials wanted to get the Flames illegal checking back under control, especially in light of nothing being called when Fedotenko was taken down.

And congrats to Brad Richards for setting the NHL record for game winning goals in a single postseason. The Lightning are unbeaten when he scores a goal this year, including the regular season. Here's hoping he scores goals in 2 more games.

Go Bolts!

 

[Philip_T]

Well, not that I expected anything different, but the ratings came out and they are pathetic.
Story
sigh
Too bad really. While these two teams aren't in any of the 'major' markets, the games are very entertaining and more people should be watching them. But, they are not. What is going to happen to this sport I wonder?

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Maybe they need Janet Jackson in the halftime show...

Missed Monday's game, but hopefully will catch Thursday.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Philip those are bad numbers...fortunatly I think the number north of the boarder are very strong

 

[nolesrule]

yeah, the ratings are horrible around the country. Too bad. Here in Tampa Bay, it's the most watched program in its timeslot, and the people watching it on the Plaza outside the Forum aren't even being counted.

And props to the NHL for stepping in and handing Niemenen a 1-game suspension, although being a repeat offender and having already been suspended a game in this year's playoffs once for dirty, dangerous, cheap shots, he should have been suspended for two games.

Sutter, Niemenen and Iginla can try to spin it any way they want, but that was not clean hockey and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Props to the Philadelphia Flyers for at least committing their cheap shots in front of Lightning players so they would have the opportunity to protect themselves from getting hurt.

According to the St. Pete Times, Vinny's gonna play, but it's likely that Fedotenko and Kubina will not.

 

[Sami Kallio]

I have to disagree, one game is plenty enough since Stillman didn't get any.

 

[Philip_T]

I should have prefaced my "'major' markets" statement above with U.S. 'major' markets. Im sure north of the border the ratings are probably off the hook as Andrew mentioned. Im glad to see a Canadian team in the finals after such a long drought. Ive always been grateful to Canada for providing such a great game and love to see your teams go far. Glad to hear that the Tampa market is supporting the game as well.

 

[Tony Whalen]

I gotta disagree as well. Was it a dirty hit? You bet. But the guy that got nailed was okay within half-an-hour. Had he been given even a small concussion, I'd agree that Nimenen should have gotten more of a suspension.

That being said, I'm quite certain I have a biased opinion.

 

[Jerry Almeida]

I'm a Lightning fan and I don't know if I would call it a "dirty" hit. That being said, he did hit the player from behind, into the boards, and went for the head. That's the trifecta and he certainly should have been suspended for at least one game.

I don't think it should matters how hurt the victim of the play is. Some people may just have harder heads than others. That doesn't take away the fact that he committed those three infractions I stated.

 

[Sami Kallio]

That hit brings an interesting question about rules as it was a major penalty. "if there is blood, it's an automatic major" but that blood was actually Vinnie's own fault. You could see from the hit that his helmet comes off very early in the hit so it wasn't strapped on properly. If it was, that hit wouldn't have had nearly as bad results as it did.

I'm not defending Nieminen, just wondering how much these players are willing to risk just for the sake of comfort. No facemask, helmet very loosely fit. Not very smart, that is why NHL and NHLPA need to step in to force the rules on equipment. We all know that will unfortunately never happen, not before some serious injuries are caused by it.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

2 out of 3. "Going for the head" is not illegal in hockey as long as you hit with the shoulder, never has been, never will be. That penalty was classic boarding, hitting from behind into the boards with the victim in an "indefensible or vulnerable" position. A supsension is ruled on the degree of intent to injure, how vulnerable the hittee was, how much the hitter tried to hold up and the extent of the injuries. It derserved a game or two because of these factors.