This is it now! The two teams who've made it all the way to the finals are fighting for the ultimate prize in hockey, the Stanley Cup. I picked Vancouver to end up in the finals, but expected Boston to fall to Tampa Bay. They didn't, and after a very tight semifinal series, they deserve their place in the finals.
Vancouver got to the finals with a bit less effort, but still had to dig deep to beat San Jose in the semis.
Both teams are where they are with a great depth in the lineup. It all starts with tremendous goalies in Luongo and Thomas. Both fighting for the Vezina, Thomas taking it easily if Boston wins the cup, otherwise Luongo might have a chance. Tim Thomas has displayed a bunch of insane highlight reel saves in the playoffs too, just to back up his solid all round game between the pipes. Luongo has been fantastic, but maybe a little less spectacular behind a more dominant team.
Now the games are 2-2. Vancouver just edged Boston in the first two at home. Played maybe better than the results show, but still pretty evenly matched. The Bruins on the other hand simply crushed Vancouver in the next two in Boston. Have to say, that now it seems like there won't be a cup to show off in Canada this year either. Unless Vancouver really finds another gear back home, Boston is going to keep the momentum going and take this in six at home.
For the competition, I hope the Canucks will wake up and fight for the ultimate victory. That would really take this final series to the level it's supposed to be. Now there's been a bunch of bad blood spilled in the previous games and my gut tells me it isn't getting any sweeter from now on. So, total grind on and we'll see who has the deepest resources in the end of season.
Boston seems to fire on all cylinders, forwards are playing intense, scoring pretty and ugly, whatever it takes. Defence is solid as a rock, lead by Zdeno Chara's massive figure. Tim Thomas seems to have decided to not let anything past him. That's a tough combination to break for Vancouver.
The Canucks fell off the wagon on all aspects and really need to recover fast. Sedins need to find the spark and shake off the fact that Boston is really pressuring them. Ryan Kesler has to find that final reserve and really step up to take the playoff MVP role he was bound earlier on. Defence is great on paper but must find the attitude to match the nastiness of the Bruins. No more mr. nice guy. And Roberto Luongo really has to forget about thinking ahead about the possible hero or goat treatment he's going to have. He just needs to make the next stop and let the rest of the team worry about the rest.
It's still tough to pick who wins this all. Boston has the upper hand now, but the long trip over to Vancouver might make them lose the best edge. However, if they take game 5 in Vancouver, the cup will not leave Boston anymore this season.
No matter what, It's been a great season and will have a fresh new champion in the end too. I'm happy to be a hockey fan.
Showing posts with label vancouver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vancouver. Show all posts
2011/06/08
2011/05/19
Then there was four
Okay, been like this for a week now, but better late than never.
Just going to post some thoughts on the remaining teams in the hunt for the cup. The teams are good, all of them capable of winning it all, battle tested.. and bearded.
BOS-TB series is now even 1-1. However, Tampa pulled their victory somewhat effortlessly and made Boston look bad in the first game. The second game reminded of some exhibition games with high scoring and very sloppy defence. Boston ended up taking it by one goal, but only after letting Tampa back from a four goal deficit. Not really convincing there either.
My guess is that Tampa Bay Lightning is going to take this series and will go to the finals. They might do that even in five. The leadership is just so much wider and more talented in Tampa's team that Boston cannot compare. Tim Thomas seems to be even with Roloson, Chara rules above anyone else on defence, but the difference in the offensive talent is just too big. Lecavalier, St. Louis and Stamkos are going to rip the Bruins to pieces. It's fun to see Sean Bergenheim put in the effort of his career so far and making a big impact from a grinder line.
VAN-SJ slipped to 2-0 for Vancouver. Before the series I thought San Jose might actually have a better combination of experience and youth after previous rounds' challenges. Now I don't anymore. After seeing what the Canucs did on game 2, destroying the Sharks on every level, I can't imagine a comeback. Another performance like that and I might lift the Canucks to the final favorite too!
Now the Sedins seem to be back in the mood and there's a plenty of secondary scoring.. if one can call Ryan Kesler secondary after leading the whole league in scoring. Anyway, lots of people in the Vancouver team seem to be capable of carrying the weight and that really is a solid recipe for success.
So, Vancouver - Tampa Bay in the finals, well rested after finishing semis in five games. And the hockey fans are in it for a great show for the end of the stretch. I'd like to see cup ending up in Vancouver and Canada for a change.
Just going to post some thoughts on the remaining teams in the hunt for the cup. The teams are good, all of them capable of winning it all, battle tested.. and bearded.
BOS-TB series is now even 1-1. However, Tampa pulled their victory somewhat effortlessly and made Boston look bad in the first game. The second game reminded of some exhibition games with high scoring and very sloppy defence. Boston ended up taking it by one goal, but only after letting Tampa back from a four goal deficit. Not really convincing there either.
My guess is that Tampa Bay Lightning is going to take this series and will go to the finals. They might do that even in five. The leadership is just so much wider and more talented in Tampa's team that Boston cannot compare. Tim Thomas seems to be even with Roloson, Chara rules above anyone else on defence, but the difference in the offensive talent is just too big. Lecavalier, St. Louis and Stamkos are going to rip the Bruins to pieces. It's fun to see Sean Bergenheim put in the effort of his career so far and making a big impact from a grinder line.
VAN-SJ slipped to 2-0 for Vancouver. Before the series I thought San Jose might actually have a better combination of experience and youth after previous rounds' challenges. Now I don't anymore. After seeing what the Canucs did on game 2, destroying the Sharks on every level, I can't imagine a comeback. Another performance like that and I might lift the Canucks to the final favorite too!
Now the Sedins seem to be back in the mood and there's a plenty of secondary scoring.. if one can call Ryan Kesler secondary after leading the whole league in scoring. Anyway, lots of people in the Vancouver team seem to be capable of carrying the weight and that really is a solid recipe for success.
So, Vancouver - Tampa Bay in the finals, well rested after finishing semis in five games. And the hockey fans are in it for a great show for the end of the stretch. I'd like to see cup ending up in Vancouver and Canada for a change.
2010/03/15
The 2010 olympic hockey - quick recap
Who still remembers the olympic tournament in February, now that all national leagues are back in business? Let's go back memory lane and revisit some key moments.
The expectations first. Games in Canada, the motherland of hockey. Massive pressure to keep the gold in Vancouver. Last two world championships went for Russia. Last olympics' gold to Sweden after total North American nosedive. It was time to get back in track. Biggest bets of course for Canada and Russia, dark horses USA and maybe Sweden looming in the background.
The first round was difficult for most. The big names scratched and clawed against lesser hockey nations like Swizerland and Norway. There even was an odd loss here and there for the big names. NHL veteran -heavy Slovakia beating Russia or fresh and hungry USA beating Canada can't really be seen as major upsets. It just tells more about the nature of one game dynamics and the difficulty of putting the team together from even the best pieces. However, the number one favorite Canada played so lazy that they ended up in the extra playoff round. The actual round was easy but the win in that game booked a quarter final matchup against the "planned" final opponent, Russia.
The highest expectations for this game and the flattest of outcomes ever. Russians weren't able to get their game together at all and Canada's straightforward style and more professional approach turned this into a onesided show. And not much of that either, since the game was over already in the first. Russia out.
Slovakia then took out Sweden and their hopes of defending the gold. Swedes were momentarily dazzling but somehow seemed to run out of time. Finland managed the top performance of the whole games on the quarters against Czech Republic. An evenly matched game with skills versus grind. Solid defence and great goaltending got Finns to the medal rounds. USA cruised to victory its "easy game" against Swizerland and were lucky to not get upset by the lazy attitude. No one had the brightest understanding on the power balance going into the semis.
Canada saved some energy in disposing the worn out Slovaks while USA knocked out Finland in the first round (period) and concentrated on skating practices for the next two. Easily the top two going for gold and the semifinal losers trying to motivate themselves for bronze.
Eventually Finland had the legs for the whole three periods in the bronze game and ended the tournament on a high note. Winning the last game, having the medals and finishing on third in the tournament of all the best. Not bad.
Luckily for the Oplympic hockey, the final was what it was. Just an amazing hockey game. With very evenly matched teams of first line and defence pair stars from Canada and young, powerful, fast and ambitious role players from USA. As a hockey fan it was just pure entertainment. The ability to play just perfectly every situation by Canadians and the fear nothing, trust yourself style of the US players. Just fantastic. At one point I believed Canada had it all together. No penalties, surgical scoring, always on the balance. By the end of the game, Americans just pounded their fast attacks to the Canadian end and got the equalizing goals. Overtime was just the cherry on top. Well, not literally for me, since my game recording cut off about 5 minutes in the overtime. However, I dug the championship goal from the internet and that wasn't much of a detail in this great game. The best game I've seen in a long while.
I sure hope NHL decision makers stop fumbling and declare that Alex Ovechkin can take all the other stars with him in the games in Sochi instead of going awol. Can there be better promotional event for the whole game and thus its biggest market, NHL, than the biggest event of 2014? How can there be a debate at all? We'll, let's not get into details on who knows about life outside their backyard and who not. Go, international hockey, go!
A tip for national team GMs: There might be a somewhat easy gold to be taken in this year's world championships after the opympics hangover..
The expectations first. Games in Canada, the motherland of hockey. Massive pressure to keep the gold in Vancouver. Last two world championships went for Russia. Last olympics' gold to Sweden after total North American nosedive. It was time to get back in track. Biggest bets of course for Canada and Russia, dark horses USA and maybe Sweden looming in the background.
The first round was difficult for most. The big names scratched and clawed against lesser hockey nations like Swizerland and Norway. There even was an odd loss here and there for the big names. NHL veteran -heavy Slovakia beating Russia or fresh and hungry USA beating Canada can't really be seen as major upsets. It just tells more about the nature of one game dynamics and the difficulty of putting the team together from even the best pieces. However, the number one favorite Canada played so lazy that they ended up in the extra playoff round. The actual round was easy but the win in that game booked a quarter final matchup against the "planned" final opponent, Russia.
The highest expectations for this game and the flattest of outcomes ever. Russians weren't able to get their game together at all and Canada's straightforward style and more professional approach turned this into a onesided show. And not much of that either, since the game was over already in the first. Russia out.
Slovakia then took out Sweden and their hopes of defending the gold. Swedes were momentarily dazzling but somehow seemed to run out of time. Finland managed the top performance of the whole games on the quarters against Czech Republic. An evenly matched game with skills versus grind. Solid defence and great goaltending got Finns to the medal rounds. USA cruised to victory its "easy game" against Swizerland and were lucky to not get upset by the lazy attitude. No one had the brightest understanding on the power balance going into the semis.
Canada saved some energy in disposing the worn out Slovaks while USA knocked out Finland in the first round (period) and concentrated on skating practices for the next two. Easily the top two going for gold and the semifinal losers trying to motivate themselves for bronze.
Eventually Finland had the legs for the whole three periods in the bronze game and ended the tournament on a high note. Winning the last game, having the medals and finishing on third in the tournament of all the best. Not bad.
Luckily for the Oplympic hockey, the final was what it was. Just an amazing hockey game. With very evenly matched teams of first line and defence pair stars from Canada and young, powerful, fast and ambitious role players from USA. As a hockey fan it was just pure entertainment. The ability to play just perfectly every situation by Canadians and the fear nothing, trust yourself style of the US players. Just fantastic. At one point I believed Canada had it all together. No penalties, surgical scoring, always on the balance. By the end of the game, Americans just pounded their fast attacks to the Canadian end and got the equalizing goals. Overtime was just the cherry on top. Well, not literally for me, since my game recording cut off about 5 minutes in the overtime. However, I dug the championship goal from the internet and that wasn't much of a detail in this great game. The best game I've seen in a long while.
I sure hope NHL decision makers stop fumbling and declare that Alex Ovechkin can take all the other stars with him in the games in Sochi instead of going awol. Can there be better promotional event for the whole game and thus its biggest market, NHL, than the biggest event of 2014? How can there be a debate at all? We'll, let's not get into details on who knows about life outside their backyard and who not. Go, international hockey, go!
A tip for national team GMs: There might be a somewhat easy gold to be taken in this year's world championships after the opympics hangover..
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