More Stanley Cup, Derby takes and other goodies

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/04/2011 (5333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THOUGHTS/QUESTIONS AFTER ROUND 1 OF STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF ACTION…

1. Is there a first-round hero that got less ink than Tampa Bay goalie Dwayne Roloson? All the 41-year-old did was shut out Pittsburgh, on the road no less, in Game 7 and kicked out 207 of the 220 shots he faced in the series while posting a .941 save percentage. Get this: the Islanders traded him on Jan. 1 of this year for defenceman Ty Wishart. Ty Wishart?

2. They can breathe a sigh of relief now after knocking off the Montreal Canadiens, but the Boston Bruins better get their power-play fixed lickedy-split if they want to move on to the next round. The Bruins became the first team in NHL history to win a seven-game series without scoring on the man advantage (0 for 23). Yuck.

3. All kinds of theories being floated now as to why and how the Blackhawks were ousted in the first round one year after winning the Cup. There is the question about letting goaltender Antti Niemi leave in the summer and then paying Marty Turco $1.3 million to watch from the bench while Corey Crawford — who earned $800,000 — was outstanding in the Chicago net. And they’ll certainly have more summer now to mull over the decisions to move Kris Versteeg, Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien for cap reasons after last year’s title.

But Duncan Keith also alluded to something else that plagues many championship teams as they attempt to repeat: trying to get motivated for October and November games in a long season can be difficult. And the fact the Hawks needed a minor miracle just to qualify for the postseason as the eighth seed spoke volumes of how little fuel there might have been in the emotional tank this spring. Valiant as they were in coming back from 3-0 in the Canucks series, the champs looked completely spent — save for Jonathan Toews’ brilliant shorty late in the third — in Game 7.

4. Somebody must have an answer to this: has a Stanley Cup playoff team ever used three goalies in a series like the Flyers did in Brian Boucher, Michael Leighton and Sergei Bobrovsky and WON?

5. For what it’s worth — and after going a mediocre 5-3 in Round 1 it ain’t much — I like the Canucks, Wings, Caps and Bruins in the conference semifinals.

6. It might not have seemed like a difference-making trade at the time — the Bruins dealt a second-round pick to Ottawa for Chris Kelly, who had just 28 points in 81 games during the regular season — but the guy has been money in the playoffs with three goals and three assists.

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CHECK THIS OUT…

Meet Ben Crane, PGA golfer from Portland and now on my list of favourite athletes. Hey, not everybody can be Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, but I give this guy credit for having fun and just being a good dude.

Plus, you really gotta take a peek at these:

 

 

 

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RANDOM THOUGHTS AND THREE DOTS…

* A small confession: I don’t read the Vancouver newspapers often enough during hockey season to have a take on this, but the consensus among NHL media types is the folks who follow the Canucks — how can we put this nicely? — are blatant homers. But I can’t wait to dive into their copy in the next round.

Here are two takes before Tuesday’s Game 7 victory, the first courtesy Puck Daddy.

And this one from old friend Mark Spector at Sportsnet.

* A fact that shouldn’t be forgotten while NFL millionaires — the owners and players — argue their points: they are fighting over $350 million of $9 billion of total revenue…

* This just doesn’t seem real to me, so add it to the collection of videos of trick shots that many believe are doctored. If it isn’t, a thousand pardons to David Beckham.

 

* The good sideline-type reporters — folks like Elliotte Friedman and Scott Oake of HNIC and Sara Orlesky of TSN — can offer so much to a sports broadcast. The poor ones, well… (click here)

* Too goofy for words: check out this painting of Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, head coach Bruce Boudreau and others available on e-bay (starting bid of $5,000)

* Another e-Bay item: for sale right now for $63,000 — a New England Patriots’ 2001 Super Bowl ring…

* I’ve seen some coaches lose it post-game after a loss. I’ve been yelled at, told I was stupid and so on and so on. But I do feel for Danish football coach Ove Christensen, who was fired after smacking a reporter on the arm… (click here)

* It didn’t get a lot of ink locally, but big news this week from the university ranks was UBC’s decision to stay with the CIS and Canada West rather than leave for the NCAA. That would have been a huge blow to university sports in this country, in my humble opinion…

* More trick shot vids, this courtesy 7th grade QB Gunnar Legas…

 

* Norm MacDonald weighs in on the L.A. Dodgers owner bankruptcy in this little clip.

* Tweet of the week, courtesy @The SportsHernia: ‘If ever say "What’s up Tweeps?" please arrange for me to be fired out of a cannon into a forgotten sea. Thanks.’…

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THE LIST

If you’re not into Twitter, Facebook and the whole social-media thing, then we suggest you move on to the next item.

But many athletes and teams are use social media networks as a way to reach out to their fan base. And, clearly, some are better than it as others in building their own personal and team brands.

Darren Rovell of MSNBC recently put together a list of the 14 most-influential athletes on Twitter — based on a number of variables — and Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals tops the list followed by LeBron James and Mike Tyson.

To read Rovell’s entire piece, click here:

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AND, FINALLY…

One word to describe this vid: crazy.

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Check out Ed Tait’s weekly on-line Out of Bounds column regularly here at winnipegfreepress.com. Send Ed any cool links, pics or vids at ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca and follow him on Twitter: @WFPEdTait.