Very true. It was a great goal. There are /tons/ of cute hockey players. You wanna come to a game next year maybe? It's great when we get there in time for pregame skate.
It was funny to watch Holly and Julz expressions when Sergei, among others, skated by. Apparently they had not believed me when I had said he was cute.
It hurt to watch them get swept by the freakin ducks, but Giguiere (sp?) was a total pimp in front of the net, the Duck's defense was spot on, and it's a little easier to lose to a team that's playing amazingly well than it is to lose to *suck* team that's just flailing on the ice.
Yeah. Giguerre was crazy good. I continued to be impressed but he wasn't that great this evening. He was mortal. There just wasn't any spark there. There were a few guys who had the jump in them but three or four guys do not make a team.
I think they weren't being violent enough on the Ducks. They needed to punish them when they got past the blue line, and they were actin like they were playing soccer, not hockey.
I know. There was no spark. I don't know why, I just know that it was true. The times that the scorers charged the net were the times we were playing well, too. We just needed to play a closer, tighter, more physical game. And we didn't.
Defense really wasn't the weak link. Honestly it was pretty clearly Dave Lewis + CuJo. That second goal should never have been let in - Cujo dropped way sooner than he should have, allowing the puck to fly in over his shoulder. That and I think Dave Lewis just wasn't able to motivate the squad. From all reports, everyone likes him - he's a buddy (unlike Bowman, who was almost universally reviled). Of course if history holds true you'll play harder to prove the prick wrong than you will to not let your buddy down.
To expand: In no game did the Ducks score more than 3 goals. Anaheim had 10 goals over 4 games, and average of 2.5 goals per game. Detroit had 6 goals over 4 games, an average of 1.5. Anaheim also had an average shots per game of 30. Detroit had an average of 42.8 shots per game. Detroit's penalty killing was 100%.
Those aren't the numbers of a team with defensive woes. 30 spg is slightly below the average for the league (which is I believe around 36). Combine that with 100% penalty killing and you have the numbers of a pretty effective defensive unit. Sure it's not the Devils or the Wild, but it's effective.
Detroit had a total of 171 shots on goal, of which Giguere gave up 6 for a .965 save percentage. Anaheim had a total of 120 shots on goal, of which CuJo gave up 10 for a .917 save percentage.
This series came down to goaltenders. Both had good performances (though .917 isn't a great save percentage). The weak link in the Detroit armor was obviously CuJo - he gave up a few goals he shouldn't have and that handed Anaheim the series. In a 4 game series where every game was decided on a single goal, the blame falls on Cujo's shoulders. Had he not let in the soft goals he let in, this would very likely have been a very different series.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2003-04-16 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 08:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 09:07 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-04-17 09:11 am (UTC)Stupid tennis wench.
no subject
Date: 2003-04-16 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 08:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 06:21 pm (UTC)You could be between teams because yours was gutted, plummeted and missed the playoffs. Damn Sharks.
Damn Canucks too, while I think of it.
no subject
Date: 2003-04-16 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-16 11:06 pm (UTC)They played hard, they played well. There number got called, that's all.
no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 08:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 09:05 am (UTC)And I'm still not happy with Cujo.
Re:
Date: 2003-04-17 09:27 am (UTC)The Wings need to work on their overall defense for next season.
They were letting the Ducks move a bit too freely down near the net.
Re:
Date: 2003-04-17 09:30 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-04-17 09:35 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-04-17 09:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 12:23 pm (UTC)JD
no subject
Date: 2003-04-17 12:37 pm (UTC)Those aren't the numbers of a team with defensive woes. 30 spg is slightly below the average for the league (which is I believe around 36). Combine that with 100% penalty killing and you have the numbers of a pretty effective defensive unit. Sure it's not the Devils or the Wild, but it's effective.
Detroit had a total of 171 shots on goal, of which Giguere gave up 6 for a .965 save percentage. Anaheim had a total of 120 shots on goal, of which CuJo gave up 10 for a .917 save percentage.
This series came down to goaltenders. Both had good performances (though .917 isn't a great save percentage). The weak link in the Detroit armor was obviously CuJo - he gave up a few goals he shouldn't have and that handed Anaheim the series. In a 4 game series where every game was decided on a single goal, the blame falls on Cujo's shoulders. Had he not let in the soft goals he let in, this would very likely have been a very different series.
JD