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What We’ve Learned So Far
by Paul on 04/20/09 at 02:02 PM ET
Comments (7)
from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News,
We take you for a moment from your regularly scheduled face wash and ridiculous after-the-whistle scrum for the first installment of What We’ve Learned So Far In The Playoffs:
• Unless the San Jose Sharks start moving their feet and taking advantage of their superior speed and skill, they’re going to be cooling their heels in the next couple of days.
• Scott Niedermayer isn’t anywhere close to being done at 35. He’s playing so well, it was almost worth enduring how he jerked the Anaheim Ducks around while still under contract two years ago.
• Never, ever, ever doubt Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland. Prior to the playoffs, Holland could have sacrificed one of his young prospects to get proven goaltending help in the playoffs. If you remember, that was right around the time Chris Osgood was doing a spectacular job of avoiding getting hit by pucks. Holland argued at the time that Osgood had the best playoff pedigree of any goalie out there and insisted he would tie his team’s playoff fortunes to Osgood’s ability to rebound once the post-season began….
Filed in: NHL Teams | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
Never, ever, ever doubt Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland.
Never doubt him, but never always believe him either..and i dig that about him
Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 04/20/09 at 02:37 PM ET
On the flip side, it’s clear Mats Sundin is done. His tragic hip is bothering him in a big way and if it wasn’t clear by the fact he missed Game 3, it was when you watched him labor around the ice in Game 1. So ends a great career. Not a Hall of Fame career, but a great career nonetheless.
Wrong, Mats is a HOFer. He played in a largely defensive era and he never had more than an okay linemate for an extended period of time in Toronto. He was relied upon for everything by that team and did it all. He’s got an Olympic gold.
Mike Keenan is one of the game’s all-time greatest coaches, but he really should have his team practise its power play once in a while.
Mike Keenan is one of the game’s all-time overrated coaches. His shelf-life is short and his attitude terrible. I wouldn’t want him coaching my favorite team.
If the NHL decided to wait until after the playoffs to conduct its voting for the post-season awards, Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks would have received a lot more votes and Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets would have received a lot fewer for the Calder Trophy.
And Green would no longer be considered by voters in the same breath as Lidstrom and Chara.
Perhaps the fighting apologists have it right. The players must police the game because the league is unable to do so itself. How Mike Komisarek could gouge Matt Hunwick’s eye at the end of Game 1 and not receive any supplementary discipline boggles the mind.
I think the right answer is somewhere in the middle, but the point that the NHL’s supplementary discipline is a joke is also evidenced by no suspension for the slash at the end of the Flames/Hawks game one, and the Bertuzzi-style piledriver at the end of the Wings/BJs game two.
The Montreal Canadiens, bastions of class and dignity for 100 years of their existence, can drag their knuckles with the best of them.
Interesting how their 100th season—the one where we were supposed to celebrate the 99 prior years of integrity, dignity, and class—has been pretty checkered and classless, in a lot of ways. There’s the scandal involving Hamrlik and the Kostitsyns, and the shambolic job that the hockey operations staff has done trying to run the team. Oh, and an owner that made such a poor business decision when purchasing a 50% stake in Liverpool FC—on LOANED money—that he’s now desperate to sell at least a large minority stake in the Habs to help bail himself out of that mess in England.
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 04/20/09 at 02:39 PM ET
I was going to make a few comments on this article, but I see Nathan has it covered.
Posted by Mandingo from The Garage on 04/20/09 at 03:02 PM ET
I was going to make a few comments on this article, but I see Nathan has it covered.
No kidding. Guess “someone’ has more time on their hands at work today than I do. 
Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 04/20/09 at 03:17 PM ET
Geez, Nathan - don’t you have work to do? You’ve been spending the entire day writing hockey essays.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/20/09 at 03:47 PM ET
I told you guys, I type fast… one of the skills of being a programmer that pays off in the hockey blog world. 
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 04/21/09 at 07:52 AM ET
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Waaaaay ahead of you, Ken.
In Tick Tock We Trust.
Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 04/20/09 at 02:35 PM ET