| PHOTO OF THE DAY |
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Hurricanes' captain Rod Brind'Amour celebrates after scoring what proved to be the series-winning goal vs. the Sabres in Game 7.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
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"He's been the heart and soul of this team. I don't like to talk about one individual player because it goes against what we believe in in the locker room. There were a lot of big performances tonight. But that typifies Rod Brind'Amour.
-- Carolina coach Peter Laviolette regarding his captain.
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GAME BREAKERS
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Rod Brind'Amour (CAR):
Game-winner,
1 assist
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Doug Weight (CAR):
1 goal, 1 assist
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Jochen Hecht (BUF):
1 goal, 1 assist
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TODAY'S SCHEDULE
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RECENT EDITIONS
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| Thursday, June 1, 2006 |
| Wednesday, May 31, 2006 |
| Tuesday, May 30, 2006 |
| Friday, May 26, 2006 |
| Thursday, May 25, 2006 |
| Wednesday, May 24, 2006 |
| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 |
| Monday, May 22, 2006 |
| Friday, May 19, 2006 |
| Thursday, May 18, 2006 |
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Game 7, 2006 NHL Eastern Conference Finals. Carolina Hurricanes 4, Buffalo Sabres 2.
Dang. Neutrality, a requirement for this job, stinks. That was a game you'd want to be rooting with all your heart.
Someone had to win. No matter how hard I wished it could be so, one of these skilled and exciting teams had to go home. Both teams are filled with classy individuals. Both had great story lines that, for the Carolina Hurricanes, will extend through the Stanley Cup Final.
First, we have to extend congratulations to the Buffalo Sabres for a terrific season and extend our sympathies for the injuries that compromised the defense and overall team play. They went down fighting and have nothing to be ashamed about. Disappointed, yes. It's long been part of the bargain in sports. But from new owner Tom Golisano on down, the Sabres were a class outfit.
We've got to be proud of ourselves," said Buffalo captain Daniel Briere. "We wanted to give every thing we had and we did. Our lineup was depleted and everyone knew that. ... There's no regrets at all."
Briere took giant steps in stature in these playoffs. Leadership was broadly shared on this unified team and Briere acted and played like a leader.
***
The same high praises can easily be directed toward the Hurricanes. Owner Peter Karamanos has pursued the Stanley Cup for a long time and gets his second chance since 2002. GM Jim Rutherford and coach Peter Laviolette are congratulated for overhauling and guiding an organization that aged between Stanley Cup Final appearances. Rod Brind'Amour got the game-winning goal and proved in every possible way that as captain he's a worthy successor to the beloved Ron Francis.
As trade deadline acquisition Doug Weight said after the game: "We're deep."
An additional thought about Karamanos: Long before he joined the NHL, Karamanos built an impressive youth-hockey organization in the Detroit area and advanced the cause of American hockey. Heck, all hockey.
***
Mike Grier spoke pre-game for the Sabres about the depletion of the defensive corps. The assumption was that fatigue and experience would undo Buffalo in a hard-fought, close game. Laviolette was right on the money when he said the between-games chatter is entertaining, but games are decided on the ice. Sports can have unexpected outcomes.
As it turned out, the expected happened. The Buffalo defensemen were gallant and Doug Janik, who spent most of the season with the AHL Rochester Americans, had a career highlight when he scored a tying goal in a conference-final Game 7. The only thing better would have been a win. In the end, they wilted and their fatigue was evident when Brind'Amour swept in among them and flipped a loose puck over goalie Ryan Miller.
***
There was the possibility of one of those Edmonton Oilers' three-deflected-goals game. Imagine a midseason dressing-down: "You guys can't shoot worth a stick. Try shooting at someone's butt and see if we can get lucky."
Never happened. Actually, deflecting pucks for goals is a combination of rare hand-eye coordination skills and courage. Slap shots hurt wherever they hit you and the bruises last forever. Some of these players have broken bones in their feet. They're used to it. Brett Hull is my vote for the best redirector in recent years. His deflection past Carolina's Arturs Irbe in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final in Raleigh tied the score with a minute left in regulation and Detroit won, 2-1, in overtime. The Hurricanes never led again and lost in five games. Hull's behind-the-back deflection tied Canada, 2-2, with 3:18 left in the deciding Game 3 of the 1996 World Cup. Team USA rapped in three more goals in regulation as Hull's goal left Canada reeling.
Chris Drury, Rod Brind'Amour and Doug Weight, in this series, are very good at it.
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What's in your skill set? Among the many things goalies must be able to do is protect themselves against players who have lost control of their skates. Buffalo's Jason Pominville collided with Carolina's Cam Ward's left shoulder and picked up a goalie-interference call. Ward had a split second to realize Pominville was incoming, turned his head over his right shoulder and ground his right skate into the ice. Ward moved about a foot to his right. You or I would have been thrown across the room. Force is a simple equation of speed times mass. You do the math but it says Ward is very strong.
Ward's wearing puck-blackened, snow-white pads. Shades of Irbe.
***
Chris Drury missed a first-period shot off a rebound and Mike Emrick said Buffalo had its best shift of the game, seconds before Mike Commodore's errant point shot was redirected off Adam Mair's hip. Mair recently returned from injury and understandably wants to make a difference. But not that kind.
Brian Campbell found a new way to fill the net, jumping behind Ryan Miller to block a shot. Three Sabres in the crease blocked shots by Cory Stillman, Justin Williams and Brind'Amour. Then Andrew Ladd leveled Daniel Briere. The captain was slow getting up.
John Davidson marks 14:24 remaining in the second period as the point where fatigue is noticeable in the Buffalo defense. The Hurricanes have been relentless for six minutes without scoring.
Then disaster struck Philadelphia-area hockey fans. That includes me and NHL.com Editorial Director Phil Coffey. A thunderstorm knocked OLN off Comcast's basic cable. Found the game a little later on the high-def channel. By then, Janik and Jochen Hecht had put Buffalo up. 2-1. OLN ominously warned that Buffalo was perfect when leading into the third period. Doug Weight, the goat in the penalty box when Buffalo scored in overtime to win Game 6, snaps the puck past Miller for the tying goal. Oh Lord, take this weight off of me. Hey, thanks.
Buffalo is flatflooted on Brind'Amour's goal and Justin Williams just flew past them on the insurance score, finishing with a pretty backhander.
There's a minute left and OLN warns that Buffalo has scored 11 times in the last minute of a period during this year's Playoffs. Carolina handled them pretty well and now they face the Oilers for the right to have their names permanently imprinted on the Stanley Cup. Any kid that ever gripped a stick knows it's hockey's ultimate goal.
See you Monday, from Raleigh.
