HERO OF THE WEEK
Most of all, Tampa striker Vincent Lecavalier hates the number 9. By the frank recognition of the championship’s best sniper, if he scores 9, 19, or 29 goals, a stupor instantly sets in and the next abandoned puck comes at the price of truly titanic efforts. Indeed, in order to take a step from the “49” mark, Lecavalier had to spend three matches, 26 throws and even use the flagrant mistake of the Carolina defender David Tanebi, who himself transferred the puck between the shields ... of his goalkeeper. However, God bless him, with a clumsy anniversary goal. The spell is lifted, and then everything went like clockwork. Having scored six points in the last two games, Lecavalier appeared in the rear-view mirrors of the leader of the scoring race Sidney Crosby.
RUSSIAN WEEKS
A pair of scoring takes in two evenings is an extraordinary event. Forward “Atlanta” Vyacheslav Kozlov - also not an apprentice with such an elite suppliers of pucks into the gates of others, such as Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Gossa. On Wednesday and Thursday, the veteran, who will turn 35 on May 3, unconditionally soloed at the forefront of attacks. Did Kozlov, who had spent ten years basking under the cloudless goblet in Detroit, think that at the end of his career Atlanta would lead to the first playoffs in its history? Another victory - and the dreams of "woodpeckers" will take on quite tangible contours. As for the pupil of the Sunday school of hockey, he already lives in dreams: he scored 77 points on the “goal + pass” system for the season, even in the stellar “Detroit”!
TEAM OF THE WEEK
From the point of view of an ordinary fan, “Calgary” is engaged in an ungrateful mission - it kills the latest intrigue of the West. The fans of the “fiery” adhere to a different point of view. For them, six consecutive victories performed by their favorite club is a feat that requires perpetuation in silver. Since two weeks ago, Colorado has reduced the distance from the eighth team of the conference to four points, spurred Flames rush non-stop. Goalkeeper Miikka Kiprusoff repelled 175 out of 184 shots during this time (95.1 percent!). On Tuesday, he almost single-handedly interrupted the nine-match winning streak, which made up the Minnesota record. Two evenings later, Jerome Iginla secured success in the confrontation with the “wild”, having given birth to a hat trick. And on Saturday, the victim of “Calgary” fell “Vancouver” with Roberto Luongo. It remains to add that all three matches of last week Kiprusoff and his comrades spent on the road.
TOPIC OF THE WEEK
After receiving a concussion in mid-March, Islanders goalkeeper Rick DiPietro went to the doctors for a week for procedures and returned to the ice. However, after four matches, he was again sent to the infirmary in connection with sharply increased headaches. The “islanders” were left with two guards, but neither the Danemu nor Dubelevich’s mantle of the “first issue” was sized. Last week, the New York club threw four points from the playoff zone. In this regard, the ongoing attempts by the Islanders bosses to blow fog into the nature of the goalkeeper's injury seem quite comical. At first it was a banal bruise of the neck. Then a vague wording “damage to the upper body” began to appear in the case ... Why such generalizations, gentlemen? Indeed, with the exception of the open secret, all the secret sooner or later becomes apparent.
BATTLE OF THE WEEK
Wednesday, March 28th. “Chicago” - “Anaheim”: Czech hippo David Kochi against the fearless barbel George Parros .
DISAPPEARANCE OF THE WEEK
Saturday's defeat against Tampa overwhelmed the patience of Washington head coach Glen Hanlon and, as a result, led to a grandiose quarrel between the coach and Russian legionaries . It all started with the removal of Alexander Semin for the delay in the game. In the second period, in a fairly innocuous situation, the attacker covered the puck with a glove, received two minutes of the penalty, and his team went on a break with the score 1: 3. In the final third, Hanlon entrusted Semin with only two shifts. After the final siren, the coach arranged a ward in the locker room for the ward, and the journalists who flocked to the scream found at the site of the “showdown” the club of Alexander Ovechkin, broken into small pieces. Not a single Russian shark was caught by the pen ...
FIGURES OF THE WEEK
18 goals in the majority scored in the current championship defender, “Montreal” Sheldon Surrey. This is a repeat of the NHL record for defense players. Previously, Denis Potven (Islanders, season 74/75) and Adrian Okoyne (Vancouver, season 98/99) shone with such indicators of numerical advantage. July 1, Surey will gain the status of an unlimited free agent and, sadly for Canadiens, is likely to leave the club. The defender has repeatedly declared his desire to be closer to his daughter living in California. In addition, his talent to turn the puck into a bullet no longer fits into the Montreal budget, calculated to a cent.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We will certainly go to the playoffs. We will go around the obstacle behind the obstacle, but I have no doubt that the final goal will be achieved. We will be there. You can write it like that. Actually, I don’t care what you write about me there. I I’m just guaranteeing that we will go to the playoffs, ”Tampa head coach John Tortorella after a Tuesday match with Florida in an interview with the Tampa Tribune. In that meeting, “lightning” suffered a fifth defeat in seven games, but the coach’s statement inspired them in two consecutive wins.
WAITING FOR THE WEEK
What can you expect from the last week of the championship? Of course, the answers to all the questions. In the Western Conference in the foreground duel “Calgary” and “Colorado” for the last ticket to the playoffs. The situation only seems completely hopeless for the Denver: on Tuesday and Sunday, the rivals meet twice! The eastern puzzle is only half assembled, so the options for the final layout are dark and dark here. Another intrigue is the battle for the Presidential Cup. Its main applicants are Buffalo, Nashville, Detroit, Anaheim. Dilemma of the week - Martin Broder or Roberto Luongo? Which goalkeeper will win the record of the legendary Bernie Parent - 47 victories in the championship? And will the achievement of the 74/75 season even fall?
CM. ALSO
Sydney Crosby, the top scorer and main candidate for the MVP title, names the top five championship goals in his own performance. The breathtaking Sid parade with the author’s comments - this is not to be missed!
Vladimir BYCHEK