Whirling Dervish (wurl-ing dur-vish) n. 1. A mystical dancer who stands between the material and cosmic
worlds. His dance is part of a sacred ceremony in which the dervish rotates in a precise rhythm. He represents the earth revolving on its axis while orbiting the sun. The purpose of the ritual whirling is for the dervish to empty himself of all distracting thoughts, placing him in trance; released from
his body he conquers dizziness.
EDMONTON -- The hockey version of the Whirling Dervish can easily be identified on the Edmonton Oilers. His name is Raffi Torres.
"I don't know how to answer that," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said when asked about the comparison. "I don't know what you are referring to, but he's a pro for us and has been throughout the year. We wouldn't be in this position without him. He's been a big, big reason that we have advanced this far as we have to this point.
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Schedule / Links:
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| Gm. 1: CAR 5, EDM 4 | Photos |
| Gm. 2: CAR 5, EDM 0 | Photos |
| Gm. 3: EDM 2, CAR 1 | Photos |
| Gm. 4: CAR 2, EDM 1 | Photos |
| Gm. 5: EDM 4, CAR 3 OT | Photos |
Gm. 6: June 17, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Edmonton (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
*Gm. 7: June 19, 8:00 p.m. ET
at Carolina (NBC, CBC, RDS) |
| *if necessary |
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"The thing that I saw the other night was a guy that was showing everybody that he's going to be a winner," MacTavish said of the ferocious hitting game Torres used in Game 5's overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final. "And that's good evolution for a young player like that to step up the way that he did was inspiring for everybody and when you get young players that are going through their first Stanley Cup Playoff lengthy run and still have the energy and the mental toughness to play the type of game that he played, it's impressive. And we just need two more out of him.
"He was really good last night, punished a lot of guys, and as I said last night after the game, he's done that at times during the playoffs," MacTavish said. Torres and Chris Pronger combined on the devastating check that injured Doug Weight, who will miss Game 6 for Carolina. "He did it in a critical shift in Detroit in Game 2. He did it against (Milan) Michalek in Game 2 in San Jose, scored a big goal. He had his legs last night. He was absolutely flying right from the drop of the puck and it's clear that we were all looking at a guy that wants to win the Stanley Cup. Like a lot of younger players, he understands the game a lot more than he used to. He's finding ways to put himself in his areas of strength of his game and that's all mental -- the mental part of the game -- trying to give yourself a chance to put yourself in your areas of strength, and I mean, he was inspiring to watch him play last night for sure."
In 20 postseason appearances, Torres has three goals and six assists. During the regular season, Torres scored 27 goals and assisted on 14 others, so he isn't a non-descript journeyman. He has combined with Michael Peca and Ethan Moreau to give the Oilers a dynamic, all-around line that can hit, skate and play strong defense. And the opposition is noticing.
"Raffi Torres plays hard every night," Hurricane winger Ray Whitney said. "He's solid. He hits you ? he finishes his checks every game that I have watched. There is no difference now. They finish all their hits. They haven't done one game more than the other. I thought they have been pretty physical for the whole series, and that's going to be expected. That's the way the playoffs have been going for us all year long."
Carolina coach Peter Laviolette was first introduced to Torres when he was coaching the New York Islanders, who had selected Torres with the fifth pick of the 2000 Entry Draft.
"Raffi is a physical player," Laviolette said. "I think we out-hit them (in Game 5), 22-19, whatever it was, but he's certainly a guy that can skate and bang bodies. We're going to have to continue to pound the body as well.
"Raf was up a little bit in Long Island," Laviolette said. "We knew that going in that he was tough, and Michael Peca was hitting and (Steve) Staios, (Jason) Smith and (Matt) Greene. They have got a physical team. We watched their series before this and knew that that was part of their game. I don't think it intimidated us."
So what's up Raffi?
"I don't know," he said. "I don't know if anything has gotten into me. This is probably the way I have always played. I just think I am getting lucky enough to get good dumps to our defensemen, just get chances to finish my hits. If the chances are there I am going to finish them. If not, I said this all series long, we can't go running around with our heads cut off because it will hurt us just like in Game 2."
Torres teamed with Pronger on the big hit in the second period of Game 5 with a thundering hit that injured Weight, who will miss Game 6.
"I am not trying to hurt anybody," Torres said. "That's the last thing I want to do out there. That's the last thing I want to be known as, somebody that's a dangerous player out there. Like I said, it's a contact sport, just finishing my hits.
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Raffi Torres doesn't want to injure anyone, but he takes pride in finishing his big hits.
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"I saw him get the puck there and I kind of saw his eyes looking at Pronger, coming into Pronger, and I saw Pronger coming in too," Torres said. "I was like 'Well better get in here too so I guess we can finish the hit, hopefully.' I have a lot of respect for the way Dougie plays the game. I think he's a great player out there. Last thing I want to do is hurt him. But I thought it was a clean hit. I didn't think there was anything dirty about it. It was just unfortunate."
The big hit seemed to be part of a chaotic situation, but Torres said such big hits come out of preparation.
"Definitely got to be patient," he said. "Like I said, you can't go running around out there. If you do that like we did in Game 2 start taking penalties, getting out of position and they buried us. They are such a good team out there, they can put the puck in the net whenever they want. I think it's better for us we just stay at it. If the hit is there, we have got to go take it.
"I am not counting the hits here," he said. "I am looking at the scoreboard. I didn't think I was the only one hitting out there. There were a lot of guys out there banging. Definitely feeding off each other."
And Torres is hoping to help feed the Oilers all the way to a decisive Game 7 in Raleigh Monday night.
"I am focused," he said. "I have nothing on my mind other than Saturday right now, and just like the other 23, 24 guys in the room. That's why I play the game. Play the game to be winners."
