Trish Thornton's Sports Column Archives

But this is how it is: You race down to the boards behind your net to get the puck before the other guy and just as you clear it, the other guy "finishes the check" on you. His man-of-steel titanium-like elbow pad hits your head with extreme force, but you don't have your chin strap tightened because it's uncomfortable and it's just not cool and the helmet goes flying off your head, which continues into the rock-solid glass.

You remember nothing else. You don't even know you're drooling like a sick Chihuahua as the trainer leads you to the dressing room. But your teammates get to go on the powerplay, and they catch a break because the opposing big defenceman got away with a mild slash and his fancy blade fell off his fancy stick. It's like your team has a 2-man advantage! And wow, do they ever pass that thing beautifully, cycling until they find an open man at the top of the faceoff circle. He sees the open corner, he winds up, his stick breaks and the puck dribbles into the corner as his $100 state-of-the-art blade ends up in row 22.

High tech hockey? Gimme a wooden stick and little leather pads any day! Richard Matvichuk might be thinking the same thing, if he were able to remember...

Get the fat lady a cab, she's on her way.

PHILADELPHIA VS. NEW JERSEY -- Is that BBQ veal I smell?
The Flyers killed the fatted calf for the prodigal son this week. The Big E hit the ice (feet first instead of head first) for the first time since... gosh, could it really have been March? Yup. The last time Lindros played a game of hockey, dotcom stocks were high, Vince Carter was flying and Ray Bourque wore a teddy bear on his chest. So how did the big guy do? That depends how you look at it. He scored Philly's only goal in game 6, and he even scored their only disallowed goal as well (time ran out on him.) So that would give the impression that Eric Lindros's return was a timely thing.

BUT... where was Recchi? Where was Tocchet? Delmore and Langkow? Does 88's return mean the team gets below-average performances from the guys that got 'em here? 'tis a puzzlement. If you're a coach or a GM of one of the Big Name(tm) elite players, how can you bench him if he's healthy? If you're a coach or a GM of Big Time Choker(tm), how can you play him in the last crucial games of the season?

The fans in the CTVSportsnet.com forum had some thoughts:

stephen clement says: "Everyone has to admit Eric looked like he hadn't been out 2 1/2 months. His hands were perfect. He was a little afraid defensively and stamina-wise but was very impressive. The team didn't show up tonight. Boucher was spectacular yet again. Captain useless (Desjardins) was a friggin' screw-up all night. He turned the puck over 9 times, once causing a goal. Give the damn "C" to a reliable player like LeClair or Recchi. If the "D" doesn't smarten up they'll lose game 7 guaranteed. They were trying to play Devils' hockey last night & got away from their crash bang style."

D.W thinks: "Well whether anyone agrees or not with Lindros being put in the line-up last night is irrelevant now. He was by far the Flyers' best player and anyone who says he was a distraction should wake up. Desjardins showed his true leadership qualities last night by giving up the puck about 20 times in his own end. LeClair and Recchi didn't show up at all. Delmore -- who against Pittsburgh was the second coming of Bobby Orr -- has proven that if you come within 10 feet of him, he gets scared and gets rid of the puck (ie Lemieux's goal.) So besides Boucher and Lindros, the rest of the team just plain sucked!

If the team uses Lindros's comeback as an excuse, they shouldn't be playing pro hockey. Every Flyer player should just look in the mirror and get ready for game 7 because Jersey in going to be even better."

Have your say at:
(retired link)

DALLAS VS. COLORADO -- Look at the pants on that guy!
Ray Bourque has the biggest pants in professional hockey. When you watch him in game 7, just take a look and we think you'll agree. And what does that have to do with the Stanley Cup conference finals? Nothing, really, except that lucky for us hockey fans, we get to see ol' Ray fill his pants at least one more time.

The Avs forced a seventh game in the Lone Star State and it was mostly because of number 77. His instincts on defence and on offence make him the best defenceman in the league. Yes, you read that right. He knows when to jump into the play -- his goal scored on the 2-on-1 with Sakic is proof positive -- and he'll block a shot or take away a pass in his own end game in, game out.

And if you ever doubted his reasons for leaving the Bruins at the trade deadline, you won't anymore. After Thursday's game he said "I think we still have our best game in us. I'm expecting us to play it in Game 7. This is why I came here (in a trade from Boston on March 6), to be in this situation." Ray wants a Cup. And the way he's playing, it looks like he could win it himself. Colorado has been awful on the powerplay this series, at 3 for 30. So if you think Bourque is the selfish one in this race to the finish, you're wrong. The Avalanche traded for the guy in the big pants because THEY want the Cup!

As for the Western Finals, the fans in the forum think the series has been a bit... well.... dull.

armenius says: "I never thought I'd say this, but the east series is far more entertaining to watch than the west. This west series (while having its moments), has been boring to watch to say the least. Roy has been average, and Dallas simply isn't capable of turning on a light bulb with entertainment power. The Devils and the Flyers have been playing a lot of open ice with defence rushes, something I can't remember NJ doing all year. Maybe NJ is finding more success playing Philly's style, because the games they've won, were played more that way, rather than their usual defensive trap system. Maybe there's hope afterall. Anyone but Dallas...can you imagine first timers watching them? They would think that this is what hockey actually is. And that would be a shame."

00 thinks: "Well, if it's going to be anyone but Dallas, it might as well be Colorado. Philly winning shows that screwed up management actually works these days or any old day. New Jersey winning the cup shows that the NHL is headed towards boring hockey which includes the trap. Colorado winning isn't that great but it's better than what we've got left."

reality check adds: "It really wouldn't be that odd to see Philly win the Cup, I mean the entire world is run by screwed up management."

Touch&ecute;, buddy!