Hockey Newsletter - May 5, 2000
And the award goes to...
The nominees for all the NHL awards came out this week, right smack dab in the middle of round two. This happens every season, and it usually ruffles a few feathers in the fan world. You see, the votes go in before the playoffs start, so sometimes a Hart Trophy candidate or two have long been out of Cup contention, and because we're so excited about the playoffs, we forget the great seasons they had.
There's no question that Jaromir Jagr belongs on the list on any given day. Chris Pronger led the unlikely Blues to the very top of the standings. And Pavel Bure, well, he got the Panthers back into the playoffs for those hockey-rabid fans in southern Florida. Uh-huh.
But what about Curtis Joseph? Wasn't he just about single-handedly
responsible for Toronto's strong season? Wasn't it because of him that
the Leafs were actually able to play an exciting wide open game of hockey
in an otherwise trap-filled league? The Leafs had 6 players with 20 goals
or more; the defence crew was okay, but not nearly the strongest in the
east; so all year long the whole team depended on Cujo to keep them in
games and let 'em win. Sure, he's on the Vezina list, but is that right
award for him? We don't think so. His numbers this year really aren't
Vezina numbers, he probably shouldn't win it at all. This should have
been Joseph's Hart year.
The clever folks in the CTVSportsnet.com Fan Forums had a lot to say about
this year's NHL awards:
Freak thinks:
"I can't believe it. Pronger, Jagr, and Bure are in the running for the
Hart. While these guys are all important to their teams success I think
CUJO has contributed more. Without him the leafs would have been lucky to
make the playoffs. An offensive oriented team with no top-notch defencemen
can only survive if they have great goaltending. CUJO provided that. CUJO
lead his team to more points in the regular season than did Jagr or Bure.
The Blues attained more points but they had other important contributors
including Quenville (up for coach of the year) and Turek (up for Vezina).
The leafs have CUJO and no one to support him in his position. Of course
it is obvious why these mistakes are made - WRITERS do the voting."
Anonymous writes:
"I believe that the great defensive defencemen of the league such as Scott
Stevens, are being deprived of recognition they deserve in the form of an
award. When was the last time that a defenceman won an award purely
because of his defensive play? As long as I can remember, the Norris has
always gone to a d-man that was a high scorer. I suggest that the Norris
go to the top defensive defenceman in the league, and the NHL come up with
a new award for top scoring d-man. (possibly a Bobby Orr Award?)"
Got something to add? Rant and Rave in the Fan Forums at:
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For a complete list and more on the awards, visit:
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Tales from the 2nd round
TORONTO VS. NEW JERSEY -- Hop on the bandwagon
In round one, the Leafs were outshot and outplayed by Ottawa. Every Leafs fan knew it, but they all seemed OK with it because the Leafs won anyway. In round 2, something changed. For the first time the numbers really shook 'em up ... OUTSCORED! By the New Jersey Trappers! 5-1 in the 3rd game! Oh woe, oh horror! People all around the city ... heck, all around the country jumped off that Toronto bandwagon ... you've never heard such moaning! But maybe that's exactly what the team needed. Being throttled in a playoff game has made them realize they just can't sit around, get a goal or maybe 2 and let Cujo win it for them. Wednesday's game had a different feel ... they forced those stingy Devils to play Leaf hockey and won the game (let's hear it for the unsung Jeff Farkas! Wuhoo!) That's right, everyone, hop on the little Hogtown bandwagon again ... until the next game?
PHILADELPHIA VS. PITTSBURGH -- Standing on the shoulders of giants
The first star, Jaromir Jagr. The 2nd star, Jaromir Jagr. The third star ... OK, you get the picture. Although he seems to score every time he steps on the ice, this is still a series about a lot of little guys ... on BOTH teams. Had anyone ever heard of Andy Delmore before game 3's overtime Philly win? Peter White anyone? And who'd a thought Kent Manderville would have been the strongest Philly centre? Pittsburgh may have the best player in the league playing his best hockey ever as team owner Mario Lemieux looks down from on high, but little Ron Tugnutt and that other guy Ottawa just threw into that trade... uh... what's his name again... Janne Laukkanen... are looking like the trade-deadline trophies. The odd thing about this series, though, is that going into game 4, neither team had won on home ice. Maybe Pittsburgh will be OK with that over 7 games!
COLORADO VS. DETROIT -- Who knew?
So this is the deal: Before the playoffs start, never believe anything you read or hear about shoulder and knee injuries. This is especially helpful when picking your playoff pool teams. Before the postseason started, Peter Forsberg was a doubtful starter. Team doctors, trainers and coaches were pretty sketchy about just how serious the injury was. So here we are in the middle of round 2 -- well, maybe it's closer to the end for the Wings -- and who is the feistiest, most dangerous looking player on the ice? Forsberg of course. He's a plus-4 and has 9 points in 8 games so far -- he did miss the first game of the playoffs. And did I pick him in the office pool? Of course not! So now that we hear that veteran defenceman Ray Bourque has a bad knee, what does that mean? Golf time for Detroit, and a drink from The Cup?
DALLAS VS. SAN JOSE -- Wake us when it's over
Maybe it's because these games are always played on beautiful Saturday afternoons, or they're on west coast time, which is bedtime for a lot of us, but does anyone besides Mike Ricci's hairdresser care about this series? Okay, that's harsh, there was an opening 4-0 game and Owen Nolan IS having a great postseason and Eddie the spread-eagle is looking unbeatable between the pipes. But if we have to take yet another scoreless period of crap-trap hockey, we might just switch to the basketball playoffs!