Vladimir BYCHEK
HERO
Anaheim goalkeeper Jean-Sebastian Giger missed almost the entire first round of the current playoff due to a serious illness of his recently born son. In the second round, he was in the thick shadow of the great and inimitable Roberto Luongo. The conference finale started with praises to the legendary Dominic Hasek ... Giger did not mind and calmly did his job. Five unanswered goals in the “Ducks” gate during the third match of the series with “Detroit” (on the eve of the thirty years of our hero!) Did not knock out solid ground from under the skates of a bearded man who had suffered from fate. In the next two matches, Anaheim celebrated Victoria, despite the total superiority of the opponent in shots 76:49. Well, the title of the first star of the final evening is well worth it. In the playoffs of 2007, Giger scored nine victories in twelve starts and conceded just one goal in the 250 minutes 44 seconds that the team spent in overtime! What is not a reason for the next title of the most useful player in the cup stage? Recall that his first MVP title earned Jean-Sebastian four years ago, when the “Mighty Ducks” debuted in the Stanley Cup finals.
RUSSIAN
In the first half of the season, striker Oleg Saprykin occasionally stepped out of the shadows at Phoenix. In the second - he did not always make his way to the Ottawa. The Muscovite habitually started the playoffs in the press box, but in the war for the eastern crown his exploits are on a par with the heroes of the first link of the “senators”. In the opening match of the series, it was this inconspicuous forward of the fourth three, and not at all fond of fame, Daniel Alfredsson, Dani Heatley and Jason Spezza, threw the winning puck into the goal of Ryan Miller and, in fact, laid the foundation for the Canadians' triumphal march. A day later, Saprykin saved the team in a situation where the puck seemed to irrevocably slide into the net. “Ottawa” put the squeeze on the enemy in the second overtime and actually removed questions about the outcome of the series.
TEAM
And again , Ottawa ! Rovnehonko in five matches was required by the wards of Brian Murray to overcome each of the three cup barriers. The “senators” have four successive away victories in the playoffs and seven victories in eight away matches. Despite the rather modest fourth seeding number, the last representative of Canada scored a fantastic move and, it seems, is not going to slow down. So, there is every reason to expect that the fourteen-year hegemony of American clubs on the transatlantic hockey Olympus will be interrupted. The last representative of the Maple Leaf Country to win the Stanley Cup was Montreal.
SABOTAGE
Anaheim players Chris Pronger and Rob Niedermeier take Detroit Thomas Holmstrom into the box. After that, with the permission to say, the “Red Wings” Swedish striker was put 13 stitches on his forehead, Niedermeier Jr. was removed before the end of the match, and Pronger was disqualified for the next game. It was May 15, in the third fight of the series.
REVENGE
A year ago, Ottawa's captain Daniel Alfredsson’s mistake in overtime allowed Buffalo, a minority, to hit the gates of the “senators”. This happened in the fifth match of the second round, and the lucky author of the winning puck was Jason Pominville, who shocked the Swede with a spectacular turn. Then the Canadians lost in the series with a score of 1: 4. With the same outcome, only in favor of the wards of Brian Murray ended their new cup battle with the “blades”. It is curious that the bold exclamation mark was set again in overtime, and this was done by none other than the fined Alfredsson - the only one from the Ottawa camp who participated in all cup matches in the team’s recent history.
NUMBERS
1314 matches were played in the NHL championships by 39-year-old Buffalo defender Teppo Numminen , but the Stanley Cup remained a mirage for the Finns in the overseas desert. Among the current players, he is the second in the distance covered. Only ahead is Trevor Linden from Vancouver - 1323 games without a Cup. His 37-year-old compatriot Teemu Selanne was not far behind Numminen - 1041 games without the coveted trophy. However, the Anaheim striker still has a chance to join the company of elders who reach the goal, such as Ray Burke, Dave Andreichak or Glen Wesley.
EMBARRASSMENT
When the publicly available NBC channel cut off the television broadcast of the Buffalo and Ottawa playoffs after a third period with a 2-2 draw, North American hockey fans were in shock. After all, not everyone has the opportunity to quickly switch to the paid Versus and watch overtime there.
QUOTES
“If I still defended the colors of Detroit, I would not be worried about the outcome of the series with Anaheim. Detroit dominates, and therefore can win the sixth match, return home and win the seventh match. On Sunday, Anaheim acted terribly with the puck, fought terribly for the puck, was terribly located on the court. In other words, the Ducks looked terrible, ” Brett Hull , a former Detroit striker and now hockey analyst at NBC, said on Monday.
“There is a very short distance from heroism to death,” Detroit defender Andreas Liglia . On Sunday, the Swede scored his first goal in the playoffs and buried “Red Wings” in overtime, making an invaluable gift to the author of the winning goal Teem Selanne. The score in the series was 3: 2 in favor of the California club.
“Every 33 years our league experiences something unusual. The time has come for a new miracle, ”- Buffalo head coach Lindi Raff on the eve of the fourth match of the series with Ottawa. The Blades won this battle, but surrendered in the next and retired. In the history of the NHL, only “Toronto” in 1942 and “Islanders” in 1975 managed to gain the upper hand in the series, during which they were inferior to 0: 3. Like it or not, the “new miracle” will strike next year ...
CM. ALSO
Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson walks alone for three in overtime. And he scores a historic goal, which for the first time in modern history leads the “senators” to the Stanley Cup finals! May 19, the fifth match of the Buffalo series - Ottawa.