2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Days 11 and 12
I'm writing this with a rather heavy heart as my team has been eliminated. This only leaves me with my Western Conference team of choice (which I will not reveal here). So sad, but I'm also slightly amused at the other 2 teams that have also been eliminated in the last 2 days.
I will start with my eulogy to the San Jose Sharks. The team that had everything on paper but for some reason just couldn't get it together in the regular season and that just carried over into the post season. They're a team that has world-class talent and should be able to win/score at win. Granted, they're playing the super-coach of the year Ken Hitchcock's team but seriously? Where was Joe Pavelski? Or Patrick Marleau? Or Joe Thornton the entire series? They can't possibly have me believe that they were planning to win with all their superstars completely snuffed out. St. Louis is a good team but let's be honest here, St. Louis isn't THAT good in the sense that they have the top-end talent that San Jose has. So what happened? That's a question that the team will have to answer in the prolonged offseason and maybe some adjustments will have to be made. Good luck Sharks, because your team will NOT look the same at the start of the next season.
Which brings me to eulogy #2. To the Pittsburgh Penguins. This was a team that had everyone thinking that they could go all the way based on their dominance in the regular season....BUT some of us had our misgivings about the regular season. While the team was on, they were winning and scoring at will BUT those 2 loses to the New York Islanders left a seed of doubt in many of us. Wondering how could a team THIS DOMINANT lose by so much (no offense to the Islanders fans out there)? It's just inconceivable that a team that was this good would fail so miserably in 2 consecutive games, so what happened? No one really knows because they appeared to snap out of it and did well enough at the end of the year to secure home-ice advantage, which they, of course, squandered that opportunity. It's not exactly a secret that digging yourself a 0-3 hole is one that is pretty much impossible to dig your way out of. There's a reason why only 4 teams in NHL history have managed to do that in the post-season (ironically, one of those teams was the Philadelphia Flyers of 2010). I just don't know. The whole series, the Penguins just seemed to not be in it. Fleury wasn't playing like the Fleury of the regular season. Malkin was pretty much silenced and James Neal was nowhere to be found. It's almost as if the Flyers ARE the team that just isn't intimidated by the Penguins and they really couldn't care less that you have Crosby and Malkin and Staal down the middle. It's another great team on paper that just didn't transfer (or as they say, execute) when it really mattered the most. Now the Penguins are faced with a really good question, where do they go from here? Everyone believed that they could be that dynasty team with the core that they've signed but given how atrocious their defense has been this year, is this a time for change? The signing of Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek was supposed to solve some of their defensive issues but it doesn't seem like it made that much of difference. And now there's a lot of talk from the fans that they should trade Jordan Staal because he would fetch quite a bit on the current market, especially since he's not exactly functioning as the top-end centre that he could be. Whatever the Penguins choose to do, it's been a disappointing end to what was supposed to be a magical season with the return of Sidney Crosby (who, by the way, didn't play to the same level of dominance he's shown in the past, did that make a difference too?). Better luck next year Penguins.
And now for the biggest disappointment of Canada, the Vancouver Canucks. Or should I say the President's Trophy curse lives on? Seriously, it's another one of those teams that looks amazing on paper but for some reason, just didn't make anything of it (this is clearly a recurring theme today). I don't know what's worse for them, their lack of offense against the most offensively challenged team that made the playoffs (*cough LA Kings cough*) or their completely lack of proper goaltending despite having the tandem of Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider. Honestly, NOTHING went right for the Canucks. They lost Daniel Sedin early on and Henrik just didn't seem like the same player anymore. I know they're twins but do they really need each other THAT much? And what happened to the rest of the offense? Where did Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond, and Chris Higgins go? It's like the disappearing act the Sharks and Penguins superstars pulled. Something about this year's playoffs I guess. Anyways, this really brings up huge questions about where this team will go next year. There's question of whether Vigneault is really the right guy to bring the Canucks to the promised land because despite winning back-to-back President's Trophy, they've fallen short of their ultimate goal. There are also questions about goaltending, and rightfully so. Is Luongo the right fit for Vancouver, or are they better off going with Schneider, who's proven that he can be a starter? So many questions, not a whole lot of answers. This is going to be an uncomfortable off-season for the Canucks.
In other news, the award finalists are starting to be named:
- Calder Trophy: Adam Henrique of the New Jersey Devils, Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers
- Lady Byng Trophy: Brian Campbell of the Florida Panthers, Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers, and Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders
- Frank J. Selke Trophy: David Backes of the St. Louis Blues, Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings
Now, we have 2 possible elimination games tonight in New York vs. Ottawa and Phoenix vs. Chicago. We're back to the whole why are these teams winning and how are they doing this again, hurray!
I will start with my eulogy to the San Jose Sharks. The team that had everything on paper but for some reason just couldn't get it together in the regular season and that just carried over into the post season. They're a team that has world-class talent and should be able to win/score at win. Granted, they're playing the super-coach of the year Ken Hitchcock's team but seriously? Where was Joe Pavelski? Or Patrick Marleau? Or Joe Thornton the entire series? They can't possibly have me believe that they were planning to win with all their superstars completely snuffed out. St. Louis is a good team but let's be honest here, St. Louis isn't THAT good in the sense that they have the top-end talent that San Jose has. So what happened? That's a question that the team will have to answer in the prolonged offseason and maybe some adjustments will have to be made. Good luck Sharks, because your team will NOT look the same at the start of the next season.
Which brings me to eulogy #2. To the Pittsburgh Penguins. This was a team that had everyone thinking that they could go all the way based on their dominance in the regular season....BUT some of us had our misgivings about the regular season. While the team was on, they were winning and scoring at will BUT those 2 loses to the New York Islanders left a seed of doubt in many of us. Wondering how could a team THIS DOMINANT lose by so much (no offense to the Islanders fans out there)? It's just inconceivable that a team that was this good would fail so miserably in 2 consecutive games, so what happened? No one really knows because they appeared to snap out of it and did well enough at the end of the year to secure home-ice advantage, which they, of course, squandered that opportunity. It's not exactly a secret that digging yourself a 0-3 hole is one that is pretty much impossible to dig your way out of. There's a reason why only 4 teams in NHL history have managed to do that in the post-season (ironically, one of those teams was the Philadelphia Flyers of 2010). I just don't know. The whole series, the Penguins just seemed to not be in it. Fleury wasn't playing like the Fleury of the regular season. Malkin was pretty much silenced and James Neal was nowhere to be found. It's almost as if the Flyers ARE the team that just isn't intimidated by the Penguins and they really couldn't care less that you have Crosby and Malkin and Staal down the middle. It's another great team on paper that just didn't transfer (or as they say, execute) when it really mattered the most. Now the Penguins are faced with a really good question, where do they go from here? Everyone believed that they could be that dynasty team with the core that they've signed but given how atrocious their defense has been this year, is this a time for change? The signing of Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek was supposed to solve some of their defensive issues but it doesn't seem like it made that much of difference. And now there's a lot of talk from the fans that they should trade Jordan Staal because he would fetch quite a bit on the current market, especially since he's not exactly functioning as the top-end centre that he could be. Whatever the Penguins choose to do, it's been a disappointing end to what was supposed to be a magical season with the return of Sidney Crosby (who, by the way, didn't play to the same level of dominance he's shown in the past, did that make a difference too?). Better luck next year Penguins.
And now for the biggest disappointment of Canada, the Vancouver Canucks. Or should I say the President's Trophy curse lives on? Seriously, it's another one of those teams that looks amazing on paper but for some reason, just didn't make anything of it (this is clearly a recurring theme today). I don't know what's worse for them, their lack of offense against the most offensively challenged team that made the playoffs (*cough LA Kings cough*) or their completely lack of proper goaltending despite having the tandem of Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider. Honestly, NOTHING went right for the Canucks. They lost Daniel Sedin early on and Henrik just didn't seem like the same player anymore. I know they're twins but do they really need each other THAT much? And what happened to the rest of the offense? Where did Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond, and Chris Higgins go? It's like the disappearing act the Sharks and Penguins superstars pulled. Something about this year's playoffs I guess. Anyways, this really brings up huge questions about where this team will go next year. There's question of whether Vigneault is really the right guy to bring the Canucks to the promised land because despite winning back-to-back President's Trophy, they've fallen short of their ultimate goal. There are also questions about goaltending, and rightfully so. Is Luongo the right fit for Vancouver, or are they better off going with Schneider, who's proven that he can be a starter? So many questions, not a whole lot of answers. This is going to be an uncomfortable off-season for the Canucks.
In other news, the award finalists are starting to be named:
- Calder Trophy: Adam Henrique of the New Jersey Devils, Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers
- Lady Byng Trophy: Brian Campbell of the Florida Panthers, Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers, and Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders
- Frank J. Selke Trophy: David Backes of the St. Louis Blues, Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings
Now, we have 2 possible elimination games tonight in New York vs. Ottawa and Phoenix vs. Chicago. We're back to the whole why are these teams winning and how are they doing this again, hurray!