Eastern Conference Final
The pieces just don't fit here. We've got two rookie goaltenders. We've got two defensive units without any stand outs. We've got one team (Buffalo) who has no significant playoff experience on their roster. This just doesn't sound like a conference final. Yet, Carolina and Buffalo both had a relatively easy time getting to this point.
The Hurricanes got off to a slow start due to the illness and poor play of Martin Gerber. However, since Cam Ward took over the starting duties in game 3 of the first round they've won 8 out of their last 9.
Buffalo had a bit of trouble in Philadelphia, but they owned the Flyers at home. They then did what it took to beat the odds on favourite to win the Stanley Cup.. the Ottawa Senators. How did they do it? Speed and team work seem to be the keys here. Buffalo's team has a lot of chemistry and very little difference between their first and third lines. They just keep coming and coming and coming. There's no rest for the opponent's defense. No weak spot to exploit. No one star to focus your attention on. If you have a shut down defenseman who do you target on Buffalo? Every single line can beat you.
There's no goaltending advantage here. Neither guy has a lick of playoff experience.
Neither team has stand outs on defense, but both have relatively solid guys 1-6. I think I'd give Buffalo a slight edge on d.
The Sabres have more depth at forward, but the Hurricanes are more explosive on the top units with Eric Staal especially showing how he is going to star in this league for years to come. 15 points for the oldest of a family dynasty in the making. Incidentally, what the hell is in the gene pool with these kids? Eric, Marc, Jordan and now ANOTHER Staal kid just got drafted into the OHL. These guys are like the Sutters but actually talented! ;)
So this is where we get to the difference maker: veteran presence. The Carolina Hurricanes have it, and the Buffalo Sabres don't. Captain Rod Brind'Amour led this team to the Cup finals only a few short years ago. Winger Cory Stillman won a Cup with Tampa last year. Centre Doug Weight is a veteran of many season and many playoff wars that I, as an Oiler fan, remember quite well. Winger Mark Recchi is another veteran with a ton of playoff experience under his belt. Defenseman Glen Wesley has never won a cup, but he's been close and he's been around forever. What am I getting at here? It's leadership, the strength of those veteran leaders give the Hurricanes a calm confidence that won't be shaken by a little adversity. That much was obvious when they lost 2 games at home against the Habs and came back to win 4 in a row, including 3 in Montreal.
It's nothing you can measure, but to me that'll be the deciding factor.
Josh: Let me start by saying that...yes, I am a Carolina Hurricanes fan. I'm not a true fan of the 'Canes, like I consider myself to be with the Flames, but if they succeed, I say "oh hey! That's nice." I have family from there, and I was actually in Raleigh during their '03 run to the Cup finals [checking out UNC (yayyyyy!) and Duke (boooooo!), not to mention NC State, which is the one, y'know, actually in Raleigh], when Erik Cole made his name, Martin Gelinas dominated the playoffs (as he is wont to do), and good ol' Archie Irbe made his heroic last stand before disappearing to...god knows where.
With that said, I'm going to have to disagree on where you're going with this, I think. Your overall points are solid, but let me dispute that whole leadership thing. The four names you mentioned - Mark Recchi, Rod Brind'Amour, Glen Wesley, and Doug Weight - have a combined one Stanley Cup to their name (and Recchi, you could say, was just riding Mario's coattails for his). One. Hell, if they review that Gelinas "non-goal," Game 6 vs. Tampa in '04, the lovable Mike Commodore would have as many as these guys.
While it baffles and confuses me, I think Buffalo's "alternating captains" is a strong way for the Sabres to function. They're a young group, interspersed with a few veterans here and there, but mostly, it's the players that, in our minds, we still call "young" that take charge. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere are the co-captains, with Jay McKee on alternate duty. They play hungry, and they play fast. While I like Carolina's core of vets, helping the kids along, I think Buffalo's group is stronger, in that it is deeper. Beyond the two co-captains - also the team's leading scorers in the playoffs - you have Tim Connolly, Derek Roy, and the uber-talented Maxim Afinogenov. You have Mike Grier, the gritty veteran who has shown some great hands in the playoffs so far, and you have Thomas Vanek, the hot youngster who, while cold all these playoffs, could bust out at any time, and put up some big goals. J.P. Dumont had a great series against Ottawa, and will look to lead by example against the Hurricanes, as well.
I think you're on point about both defenses. Neither will overwhelm you. Man, Carolina will be fun to watch once Jack Johnson steps into the fray. As it stands right now, though, I think that Buffalo is a little stronger. Teppo Numminen is one of the most underrated defensemen of all time, and a wily vet. Brian Campbell murdalizes people, Toni Lydman is a wonderful PP quarterback, and Tallinder, Kalinin, and Fitzpatrick round out the six. Hedican leads the crew in Carolina, along with Wesley, but after that, I think there's a severe drop-off. We all remember how huge Wallin was for Carolina in their last Cup run, and Commodore soaked up some gutsy minutes with Lydman, Regehr, Gauthier, and Warrener all banged up for a time with Calgary...but these are not strong defensemen. They're prone to big mistakes, and against such a high-octane offense, they'll have their work cut out for them.
I'm really intrigued by the goaltending matchup, but I don't know what to expect. Both Ryan Miller and Cam Ward - the battle of the highly-touted goalie prospects - head into the series having backstopped eight playoff wins. They're halfway home. One of them will be in the finals. I don't know enough about either, truthfully. How their teams play in front of them will dictate the action both will see. I'm thinking this will be a much higher scoring series than the one out West, but that's not exactly going out on a limb. It will be interesting to watch, that's for sure.
Shawn, while I think leadership is huge, the Sabres just seem like a hockey team to me, y'know? It's tough to describe past that. All four lines, and all three defensive units, seem to merge into one force. They really do remind me of an parallel-universe version of the Oilers, y’know, if the Oilers didn’t have to play in the big, bad West. Whether Briere or Drury wears the C, you know that they'll lead by example. The Hurricanes are a strong team, and if their vets put it all together, in addition to Eric Staal continuing to be Eric Staal (and that Sutter crack, while mean-spirited, DID make me laugh), and Cam Ward being some sort of puck-stopping thing that stops pucks...I wouldn't count Carolina out for a second. I think Buffalo will get a chance at hockey redemption in the finals, with the chance to lift the Curse of the Crease.
Sabres in seven.
Shawn: Well leadership doesn't come from rings alone. You have several guys who have been to the cup finals. The main point though is that these players have been through
the playoff wars before. Buffalo is completely untested, without any battle-tested veterans to their name.
I mean you mention Teppo. Before this year in his long career he'd never even escaped the first round.
I'm not counting Buffalo out. Far from it. I am simply looking for a factor that would tip the scales so to speak. I think it's the veterans. But I agree, it'll go the distance.
Hurricanes in seven.
The Hurricanes got off to a slow start due to the illness and poor play of Martin Gerber. However, since Cam Ward took over the starting duties in game 3 of the first round they've won 8 out of their last 9.
Buffalo had a bit of trouble in Philadelphia, but they owned the Flyers at home. They then did what it took to beat the odds on favourite to win the Stanley Cup.. the Ottawa Senators. How did they do it? Speed and team work seem to be the keys here. Buffalo's team has a lot of chemistry and very little difference between their first and third lines. They just keep coming and coming and coming. There's no rest for the opponent's defense. No weak spot to exploit. No one star to focus your attention on. If you have a shut down defenseman who do you target on Buffalo? Every single line can beat you.
There's no goaltending advantage here. Neither guy has a lick of playoff experience.
Neither team has stand outs on defense, but both have relatively solid guys 1-6. I think I'd give Buffalo a slight edge on d.
The Sabres have more depth at forward, but the Hurricanes are more explosive on the top units with Eric Staal especially showing how he is going to star in this league for years to come. 15 points for the oldest of a family dynasty in the making. Incidentally, what the hell is in the gene pool with these kids? Eric, Marc, Jordan and now ANOTHER Staal kid just got drafted into the OHL. These guys are like the Sutters but actually talented! ;)
So this is where we get to the difference maker: veteran presence. The Carolina Hurricanes have it, and the Buffalo Sabres don't. Captain Rod Brind'Amour led this team to the Cup finals only a few short years ago. Winger Cory Stillman won a Cup with Tampa last year. Centre Doug Weight is a veteran of many season and many playoff wars that I, as an Oiler fan, remember quite well. Winger Mark Recchi is another veteran with a ton of playoff experience under his belt. Defenseman Glen Wesley has never won a cup, but he's been close and he's been around forever. What am I getting at here? It's leadership, the strength of those veteran leaders give the Hurricanes a calm confidence that won't be shaken by a little adversity. That much was obvious when they lost 2 games at home against the Habs and came back to win 4 in a row, including 3 in Montreal.
It's nothing you can measure, but to me that'll be the deciding factor.
Josh: Let me start by saying that...yes, I am a Carolina Hurricanes fan. I'm not a true fan of the 'Canes, like I consider myself to be with the Flames, but if they succeed, I say "oh hey! That's nice." I have family from there, and I was actually in Raleigh during their '03 run to the Cup finals [checking out UNC (yayyyyy!) and Duke (boooooo!), not to mention NC State, which is the one, y'know, actually in Raleigh], when Erik Cole made his name, Martin Gelinas dominated the playoffs (as he is wont to do), and good ol' Archie Irbe made his heroic last stand before disappearing to...god knows where.
With that said, I'm going to have to disagree on where you're going with this, I think. Your overall points are solid, but let me dispute that whole leadership thing. The four names you mentioned - Mark Recchi, Rod Brind'Amour, Glen Wesley, and Doug Weight - have a combined one Stanley Cup to their name (and Recchi, you could say, was just riding Mario's coattails for his). One. Hell, if they review that Gelinas "non-goal," Game 6 vs. Tampa in '04, the lovable Mike Commodore would have as many as these guys.
While it baffles and confuses me, I think Buffalo's "alternating captains" is a strong way for the Sabres to function. They're a young group, interspersed with a few veterans here and there, but mostly, it's the players that, in our minds, we still call "young" that take charge. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere are the co-captains, with Jay McKee on alternate duty. They play hungry, and they play fast. While I like Carolina's core of vets, helping the kids along, I think Buffalo's group is stronger, in that it is deeper. Beyond the two co-captains - also the team's leading scorers in the playoffs - you have Tim Connolly, Derek Roy, and the uber-talented Maxim Afinogenov. You have Mike Grier, the gritty veteran who has shown some great hands in the playoffs so far, and you have Thomas Vanek, the hot youngster who, while cold all these playoffs, could bust out at any time, and put up some big goals. J.P. Dumont had a great series against Ottawa, and will look to lead by example against the Hurricanes, as well.
I think you're on point about both defenses. Neither will overwhelm you. Man, Carolina will be fun to watch once Jack Johnson steps into the fray. As it stands right now, though, I think that Buffalo is a little stronger. Teppo Numminen is one of the most underrated defensemen of all time, and a wily vet. Brian Campbell murdalizes people, Toni Lydman is a wonderful PP quarterback, and Tallinder, Kalinin, and Fitzpatrick round out the six. Hedican leads the crew in Carolina, along with Wesley, but after that, I think there's a severe drop-off. We all remember how huge Wallin was for Carolina in their last Cup run, and Commodore soaked up some gutsy minutes with Lydman, Regehr, Gauthier, and Warrener all banged up for a time with Calgary...but these are not strong defensemen. They're prone to big mistakes, and against such a high-octane offense, they'll have their work cut out for them.
I'm really intrigued by the goaltending matchup, but I don't know what to expect. Both Ryan Miller and Cam Ward - the battle of the highly-touted goalie prospects - head into the series having backstopped eight playoff wins. They're halfway home. One of them will be in the finals. I don't know enough about either, truthfully. How their teams play in front of them will dictate the action both will see. I'm thinking this will be a much higher scoring series than the one out West, but that's not exactly going out on a limb. It will be interesting to watch, that's for sure.
Shawn, while I think leadership is huge, the Sabres just seem like a hockey team to me, y'know? It's tough to describe past that. All four lines, and all three defensive units, seem to merge into one force. They really do remind me of an parallel-universe version of the Oilers, y’know, if the Oilers didn’t have to play in the big, bad West. Whether Briere or Drury wears the C, you know that they'll lead by example. The Hurricanes are a strong team, and if their vets put it all together, in addition to Eric Staal continuing to be Eric Staal (and that Sutter crack, while mean-spirited, DID make me laugh), and Cam Ward being some sort of puck-stopping thing that stops pucks...I wouldn't count Carolina out for a second. I think Buffalo will get a chance at hockey redemption in the finals, with the chance to lift the Curse of the Crease.
Sabres in seven.
Shawn: Well leadership doesn't come from rings alone. You have several guys who have been to the cup finals. The main point though is that these players have been through
the playoff wars before. Buffalo is completely untested, without any battle-tested veterans to their name.
I mean you mention Teppo. Before this year in his long career he'd never even escaped the first round.
I'm not counting Buffalo out. Far from it. I am simply looking for a factor that would tip the scales so to speak. I think it's the veterans. But I agree, it'll go the distance.
Hurricanes in seven.