Half empty or half full?
Posted: Tuesday May 04, 1999 12:48 PM
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Kostya Kennedy's
Main
Events |
Pittsburgh-New Jersey
Friday, April
30, 7:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 2, 2 p.m. ET Boston-Carolina
Friday, April 30, 7:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 2, 7:30 p.m. ET
Philadelphia-Toronto
Friday, April 30, 7 p.m. ET
Sunday,
May 2, 7:30 p.m. ET For a full breakdown on Kostya's Main Events, click
here. | |
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By Jamie MacDonald, CNN/SI
By Wednesday the 1999 Stanley Cup hopes of three franchises had been
scuttled. By Friday the Coyotes could send the Blues out to the golf
pastures of North America and finalize the Western Conference standings for
Round 2. But in the Eastern Conference, three of the four series have come
down to the best-of-three games.
With that in mind, let's take a Glance at why the teams with perhaps the
longest roads ahead of them can look at the glass as half full or half
empty.
New Jersey: Half full
... Martin Brodeur
can be the best goaltender in the world, and the Devils' Game 4 win
broke Pittsburgh's string of playing over their heads in the absence of
Jaromir Jagr .
Half empty ... The likely Hart Trophy winner is on his way
back to the lineup.
Pittsburgh: Half full
... The Pens still won two games without Jagr. Also, forwards Jan Hrdina , Martin Straka and
Alexei Kovalev will
only become more dangerous if Jagr is able to get healthier as the series
progresses. Half empty ... You have to worry about what
kind of injury Jagr exposes himself to by playing in Game 5, when the Pens
may need him more in Game 6 on Sunday.
Carolina: Half full ...
There are less than five players on the Bruins roster who can individually
contain Keith Primeau
, and his teammates have been finding the net. Half empty
... Primeau is not making his own impact on the scoresheet.
Boston: Half full ...
The Bruins have shown flashes of being able to dominate in Carolina's end.
Half empty ... Flashes of brilliance don't always look good
on the scoreboard, and there are still no real vital signs from the team's
top players (read: Jason
Allison , Dimitri
Khristich ).
Phoenix: Half full ...
The Coyotes need only one win in three games, and having guys like Keith Tkachuk throw
themselves in front of an Al MacInnis blast,
Phoenix has to be happy with its leadership. Half empty ...
St. Louis has played hockey below a level of which they are capable and the
Blues at their best can beat Phoenix in three straight games.
St. Louis: Half full
... The Blues can play much better hockey and everyone in the dressing room
knows it. Half empty ... Grant Fuhr has not
looked very good at all in the series and, while Pavol Demitra and
MacInnis have been scoring, where have you gone Pierre Turgeon ? Scott Young ?
| Storylines We're Following
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Injuries
Though Jagr appears to have healed from
his sore groin and the Bruins' Landon Wilson appears to have
healed from career-long growing pains, neither is particularly healthy --
which is not good news in the Black and Gold regions of Pittsburgh or
Boston.
The careers of Jagr and Wilson would never be confused, but after the Pens
loss in Game 4 and the contributions made by Wilson in the two Bruin wins,
it seems both are key players for the remainder of the playoffs. Jagr's
ailing groin will limit him, but just seeing him on the ice should be
enough to keep Deviling defenses honest.
Wilson, who left Game 4 with a shoulder injury (sprained and possibly
separated), has been Boston's most effective forward in the
rough-and-tumble Carolina-Boston series. Unless you closely follow the
Maple Leafs (who drafted Wilson), the Avalanche (for whom Wilson had a few
unspectacular cups of coffee), or the Bruins, you may not have even heard
of Wilson, but there aren't enough players playing with his revved-up motor
for the Bruins in the playoffs.
Cujo vs. Beezer/McCarthy vs. Domi
John Vanbiesbrouck was
signed by Philadelphia to bring the Flyers a Stanley Cup. Curtis Joseph was signed
by Toronto to turn the Maple Leafs around. Cujo, by all accounts has done
his job, but the expectations were higher in Philadelphia with
Vanbiesbrouck. Keep an eye on how these two respond to the pressures of
their respective tasks. It says here that Cujo is more prepared for his.
Tie Domi stands
accused of dropping an "N-bomb" on Philadelphia's Sandy McCarthy , which
Domi denies and the NHL could find no evidence. In Game 4 on Wednesday,
April 28, McCarthy drew a penalty from Domi, which resulted in a Flyers
power play and the chance to score the game winner. This battle may not
come to fisticuffs between the two parties ( Pat Quinn has ordered
Domi to keep his dukes under wraps) but it will continue to be a hot-button
topic in the series.
Detroit-Colorado
Because Dallas will play the
lowest remaining seed, this always-entertaining matchup is coming if
Colorado can take care of San Jose. The most important aspect of the
matchup to note is that Dallas and Detroit are home resting while the
Sharks pound away at the Avalanche. The longer the Avalanche-Sharks series
goes, the happier the Stars and Red Wings will be when the puck drops on
Round 2.
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| NHL's Three Stars
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| Each week, we'll take a look at a few of the
individuals making a significant impact on team success.
1. Dominik Hasek,
Buffalo -- Repeats as the No. 1 star of the week after making a
103-point regular season team look like a No. 8 seed.
2. Chris Chelios,
Detroit -- Chelly made the ice a cold place for the combustible
combination of Teemu
Selanne and Paul Kariya . Steve Yzerman may have
led the Wings in scoring, but Chelios was the most important factor in the
sweep.
3. Michael Peca,
Buffalo -- Peca blanketed Ottawa's No. 1 center, Alexei Yashin , and kept
the Senators' No. 1 line from doing any real damage on the scoreboard.
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| Bandwagon |
| Martin Straka
|  | Very close to No. 3 star
of the week |
| Tomas Holmstrom
| | Continue to watch him
shine |
| "If necessary"
|  |
We can do the
math |
| Sergei Brylin
| |
Sits for two games,
then scores two goals |
| Domi/McCarthy
| | Someone's lying |
| Joe
Thornton | | Showing he can be a
force |
| Alexei Yashin |
| Sens could have used
him |
| Ray Sheppard
| | Providing huge
goals |
| Mike Ricci |
| Gotta love that playoff
face |
| Dallas Drake
| | Unsung player producing in
Round 1 |
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| Not your
average prediction |
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Of the three series tied after four games, only one will go the seven-game
distance -- Toronto-Philadelphia. New Jersey will take the next two from
Pittsburgh and Boston will take the next two from Carolina.
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