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Friday, April 18, 2008
Twenty Points Ahead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By now most of you have read Mark Bradley’s fine piece regarding Don Waddell. In it, the Thrashers general manager pointed to the Philadelphia Flyers as hope for a team that failed miserably one season to leap to the playoffs the next. The Flyers finished with a mere 56 points in the ’06-’07 campaign and then qualified for the post-season this year with 95 points and the sixth playoff seed in the east.
Said Waddell regarding their position a year ago and Atlanta’s 76 points of this past season, “…we’re 20 points ahead of them”.
OK, while I agree that the Flyers are a good model to follow, let’s take a quick look at some of the reasons they were able to elevate themselves out of the muck and mire of the conference cellar and are now poised to enter into the second round of this year’s playoffs.
Well, let’s see…it all began about fourteen months ago when Philly was able to jettison an aging defender and the two-plus years remaining on his contract worth $3.5 million per year to a team desperate to make their initial trip into post-season…a team that had a general manager fearing that failure to do so would cost him his job. The Flyers gained in return a young defender that has contributed greatly to their turn in fortunes.
The player traded away: Alexei Zhitnik
The team they dealt him to: The Atlanta Thrashers
The general manager: Don Waddell
The Player gained in return: Braydon Coburn
Then, they added to their defensive corps Kimmo Timonen and Jason Smith. So, as you can see, the blueline situation was actually addressed…not just given lip service.
Then there is this guy, Daniel Briere that they picked up. He’s a pretty good center in case you haven’t heard. He accounted for 31 goals and 41 assists during the regular season. Not surprisingly, Briere has been instrumental in Philadelphia’s success so far in the opening round of the playoffs, netting 5 goals and 3 assists in four games thus far.
Compare that with the 14 goals and 23 assists from the “answer” we were given to our #1 center position, Todd White.
A few good defenders plus a top line center has equated to 39 more points in the standings and a game away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs behind a defense that went from giving up 3.62 goals per game to just 2.77.
But the problem here is that, while it’s true the Thrashers are 20 better than the Flyers were a year ago, the fact of the matter is that this time last year the Flyers were further along the road to recovery than the Thrashers are now.
That is, unless the team has suckered away a great young blueliner from a team …in return for an aging one that is carrying about $7 million worth of salary …that we don’t know about yet.
But, Waddell at least sees where such a road map to a successful turnaround can be found. The question is, can he follow the route laid out.
Playoff Update
Pittsburgh made short work of Ottawa, sweeping the defending Eastern Champs and outscoring them 16-5 in the process. Marian Hossa notched a goal and four helpers and was a +3 with 24 shots on goal, (9 in game 4 alone). Pascal Dupuis was a +2 with 2 assists.
The Boston Bruins are clinging on for dear life in their series with Montreal. Facing elimination they came away with a 5-1 victory in game five. With the score tied at one in the third period the Bruins went ahead to stay on a goal by Glen Metropolit on their way to a four-goal third. Marc Savard has a goal and 3 assists for Boston so far…his goal the game winner in OT of game 3.
Mike Knuble’s goal 6:40 into the second overtime powered Philly to within a game of advancing to the second round. Jeff Carter scored twice, (the second via a nice pass from Jaroslav Modry), and added a helper on the game winner while Daniel Briere tallied his fifth goal of the post-season. Flyers goalie Martin Biron stopped all 18 shots he faced in the overtime to buy his team the time needed to get the win. Braydon Cobourn earned is third assist in the series. Washington will look to avoid elimination Saturday afternoon back in D.C.
The Dallas Stars find themselves in much the same situation as Philadelphia, leading the defending Stanley Cup Champion Ducks 3 games to 1 after Thursday night’s 3-1 win. Marty Turco was throwing a shutout against Anaheim until Mathieu Schnider scored with eight seconds left…bummer. Turco finished the night with 27 saves on 28 shots.
Looky here, would ya…Minnesota and Colorado played yet another 3-2 game. Four of the five games played so far in this match-up have ended in that score, the previous three times in OT. Game five of the series went to the Avalanche as Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk each had 2 assists and Andrew Brunette scored his 3rd goal and fifth point of the series.
Calgary’s comeback attempt fell just short Thursday night and the Sharks took a 3-2 series lead. Trailing 4-1 halfway through the third period the Flames were able to pull to within a goal thanks to goals by Daymond Langkow and David Moss. Jonathan Cheechoo was a man possessed in the beginning of the third scoring twice in the first eight and a half minutes, providing the ultimate margin of victory. San Jose plays for the series win Sunday night.
The Predators travel to Detroit for the pivotal game 5 of the series after taking games 3 and 4 back in Nashville. Is it just me, or are there others out there who would love to see the lone team from the southeastern part of the country pull the upset here?
The Rangers look to end things with New Jersey tonight as the series heads back to the Jersey side of the Hudson with the Devils down 3 games to 1. So far in this match-up, the Rangers are playing the better team defense and getting the better goaltending.
OK, now…go back and count the former Thrashers mentioned above.
