Cup Final: Flames vs. Lightning

[CentreHice]

It has all the potential of being a great series.
Two teams who never quit...well-coached...the best two goaltenders in these playoffs.

Refreshing: Calgary's payroll--$ 36,402,575 18th
Tampa's payroll-- $ 34,065,379 21st

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Thoughts:

Tampa Bay making the Finals makes their sweep of the Habs a little easier to take. And the fact that Tampa beat the team that beat the Leafs also soothes this Habs' fan's soul.

[Deleted]

I don't see anybody stopping Tampa Bay, to be honest. I however will be rooting for Calgary all the way and hope that they take it.

The teams are somewhat evenly matched when it comes to goaltending, but Calgary's defense is stronger than Tampa's while their offense is better than Calgary's.

Should be a great series; Bettman will go nuts if the Flames win it. Here's hoping.

[CentreHice]

I have to say I didn't mind Greg Millen during this year's playoffs....but in the 7th game vs. Philly, especially in the third period, he was really rooting for and coaching the Lightning with his colour-commentary.

The cynic in me (and from what I've read on Leaf boards) thinks there is CBC-Toronto Maple Leaf sentiment for Freddie Modin and especially Dave Andreychuk at work here. Don't know why, as Danny Markov (Flyers) was also a Leaf trade-away. Andreychuk outweighs them all, though, as he was a much-beloved part of that 93 team that was oh so close. ;D Of course, the Leaf hatred for Philly also played into it.

The CBC finals coverage should be unabashedly tilted toward the Flames....but I say watch for a very twisted CBC-Tampa love-fest. Just a hunch...watch for the focus on Andreychuk and Modin.

[seventeen]

A couple of observations on the Lightning. Firstly they still don't have any injuries of any note and you wonder how long these horseshoes will stay open end up. Secondly, they haven't played a tough goalie yet. Dipietro didn't do much. Theo was less than marginal against them and Esche had his abysmal moments. If Kiprusoff keeps up his play, it will be a shock to the Lightning (I love those puns). I also don't think they've run across a team that plays across each line with the speed and effort of the Flames. The Koivu line and the Primeau line both played with a lot of effort and they did damage to the Lightning. Calgary is both fairly well sized, and very quick. Should be interesting.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

The Lightning got to where they are by stinking up the joint for years and loading up with #1 draft choices. I noticed two years ago (much like Atlanta today, the Senators and the Nordiques of yore) that they were amassing talent that outshone their play.
The Flames built themselves up with lunchpail hard work and a hot goaltender. They have one star, Iginla who rose out of semi obscurity to challenge for the Hart trophy and fall to the sophomore jinx with injuries. I like teams who overachieve rather than talent laiden teams who barely reach their potential.
Look for an upset with the Flames winning in 7.

[MC Habber]

Flames in 6.

Tampa has a superior offense, but this will be neutralized by the goaltending - I think Kiprusoff has been very consistent throughout the playoffs while Khabibulin has been a little erratic. Calgary's hardwork, defense, and team play will make the difference.

[franko]

Hoping I'm wrong . . . TBay in 5.

I hated the "win it for Lanny" and "win it for Ray" themes of the past . . . now it's "win it for Dave". Sheesh. Lots of guys go through their careers without winning a Cup.

Calgary's work ethic will not be enough against TBay's depth. But Go Flames!

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

MC said:

Flames in 6.

Tampa has a superior offense, but this will be neutralized by the goaltending - I think Kiprusoff has been very consistent throughout the playoffs while Khabibulin has been a little erratic. Calgary's hardwork, defense, and team play will make the difference.

What he said.

*Sigh* I guess I'll have to edit my sig, but if the Flames win it will be worth it.

COW TOWN = CUP TOWN!

GO FLAMES!

[blaise]

I feel the Flames will win it despite the disparity in statistics.

[razor]

Habs_fan_in_LA said:

The Lightning got to where they are by stinking up the joint for years and loading up with #1 draft choices. I noticed two years ago (much like Atlanta today, the Senators and the Nordiques of yore) that they were amassing talent that outshone their play.
The Flames built themselves up with lunchpail hard work and a hot goaltender. They have one star, Iginla who rose out of semi obscurity to challenge for the Hart trophy and fall to the sophomore jinx with injuries. I like teams who overachieve rather than talent laiden teams who barely reach their potential.
Look for an upset with the Flames winning in 7.

What? First time in what - 10 years - Calgary makes the playoffs. I think Calgary has had their share of high draft picks. I have edited the listing below to show the teams draft picks - the complete list can be found here:
www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/Sports/2004/05/25/471752.html
The only difference is Tampa has a first overall pick.

Anyway, it should be a good series to watch, fast with lots of hitting. Hopefully the refs don't decide it.

HOW THE 21 PLAYERS LISTED WERE ACQUIRED:

* TAMPA BAY:

TRADES -- 13

DRAFT -- 4

FREE AGENCY -- 3

WAIVER -- 1

*CALGARY:

TRADES - 14

DRAFT -- 3

FREE AGENCY -- 4

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING... #4 C VINCENT LECAVALIER
AGE -- 24
ACQUIRED -- Drafted first overall in 1998.

#13 D PAVEL KUBINA
AGE -- 27.
ACQUIRED -- Drafted seventh round in 1996

#19 C BRAD RICHARDS
AGE -- 24.
SKINNY -- Drafted third round in 1998.

#29 LW DIMITRY AFANASENKOV
AGE -- 23.
ACQUIRED -- Drafted third round in 1998.

. . . AND NOW YOUR CALGARY FLAMES

#7 RW CHUCK KOBASEW
AGE -- 22.
ACQUIRED -- Drafted 14th overall in 2001.


#17 RW CHRIS CLARK
AGE -- 28.
ACQUIRED -- Drafted third round in 1994.

#19 LW OLEG SAPRYKIN
AGE -- 23.
ACQUIRED -- Drafted 11th overall in 1999.

[seventeen]

Blaise said:

I feel the Flames will win it despite the disparity in statistics.

Statistics, schmatistics. Franko's already treading on thin ice after tonights game. Can TB win 4 games in a row and validate Francisco's crystal ball? I had ticked Flames in 5 in a moment of lucidity. Yawn.

[franko]

Calgary's Tbay's work ethic depth will not be enough against TBay's Calgary's depth work ethic.

And I'm sticking with this unless TBay wins Thursday. You know, just once I'd like to think I have a clue!

[franko]

Half an hour until game time. Time for me to do my Waffle-man impression: 3-1 TBay.

[blny]

Great game for Calgary tonight. They played their game and got the win. Kudos to Vinny for stepping up to take on Iginla. I'd be worried though. The team didn't really respond to it well. Many of Tampa's players were shadows out there. Richards and Modin had chances, but Stillman, Fedotenko and St Louis were invisible.

Kudos to the Calgary PP for getting a couple of goals. It's good that they were able to get that going. Hopefully Donovan's goal tonight gets him out of his funk too. The more goals from the supporting cast the better.

There were some huge hits tonight. Most were clean. It surprised me too, because Fraser made a real effort to control the game in the first. As soon as I saw him on the ice I groaned. It only took him 13 seconds to put his stamp on the game. The Gelinas hit was a marginal penalty at worst. Perhaps you call that midway through a chippy game. The first minute you should let them get a groove going. Someone needs to tell ole "Helmet Hair", and people like him, that he's not the star. People don't pay to see him fullfil a power trip wish.

Calgary deserves a lot of credit for not letting the officiating take them off their gameplan. While the first lacked passion, they came out in the second and took full control. Their PK was great again. Tbay had no real dangerous possessions.

A real low for kneel and bob tonight as Neale referred to Kiprusoff as "Aebischer". I can't believe that one of them would use the name of a goalie that wasn't even in the series. I can see if they had said Khabiubulin instead, but Aebischer? If that isn't enough reason to re-evaluate the crew I don't know what is. Why couldn't Cuthbert have continued? Give Cole and Neale the clincher or something. Leave the rest to people with decent vision, 2 cents to rub together, and the abililty to fill "dead time" with decent commentary. Cole and Neale are out of touch. Hopefully they'll be out of the booth soon too.

Did anyone watch the ABC broadcast? As much as I like JD, I just can't bring myself to watch an American broadcast. I don't like Gary Thorne, and I totally despise Barry Melrose. Few things or people make me seething mad. Melrose is one of them. I can take Panger, and John Saunders. But not enough to take BM. Besides, I'd miss the Hotstove .

[CentreHice]

Game 3...I was working tonight, so I caught only the last 7 minutes of the game on the radio on the drive home. Sam Rosen (Rangers) is an excellent play-by-play man...and when he's teamed up with John Davidson, they make for (I think) the best American team there is...very unbiased even doing Ranger games. Better than Thorne and Clement.

Would I ever like to see Jim Hughson get the CBC-Toronto shot...he'd keep it as unbiased as anyone in Canada.

[blny]

I agree on all counts of your post. The MSG is very good. Excellent in fact. Hughson is the best on this side of the border. He has been really since his days at TSN. They lost a lot when he chose to return to BC.

Once Cole and Neale are gone, the CBC will still have decent play by play guys. Cuthbert is good IMO. He's paid his dues for a long time and deserves the primetime gig. Mark Lee would likely get the late game if he wanted it. He's done Olympic, and some first round stuff. He's pretty good.

Where I think the CBC is really lacking is in colour commentary. There really isn't much to chose from. Millen, Healey, and Hrudey are all without contracts. I have particular distain for the first two and Hrudey is being primed to replace, if you can call it that, Cherry. There really isn't much to chose from.

[CentreHice]

What I like about Hrudey is the look of incredulity he gives MacLean whenever Ron says something bizarre...i.e. when Zednik got creamed in the back of the neck by McGillis, MacLean said Zed took a dive. Hrudey shot him a look that said, "Did I actually just hear you say that?"

Instead of ranting and raving like Cherry, Hrudey just shoots that look and counters with fact, not just his own self-inflated opinions.

[CentreHice]

Game 4....as soon as I saw Kerry Fraser's hair, I knew he'd do something to put his mark on the game. When he put Calgary down 2 men I almost jumped out of my seat.

It wasn't until Cherry showed the replay that it indeed was a cross-check to the head....so it had to be called.

What a selfish play by Nieminen hitting Lecavalier to pretty much thwart any chance the Flames had of a comeback.

Calgary was a victim of overpassing tonight and not shooting. Montreal did it against Tampa too....always looking for that perfect goal. Gotta shoot when ya got the chance.

EDIT:

My feelings pretty much summed up in this article from the Calgary Sun:

www.canoe.ca/Slam040601/col_francis-sun.html

[seventeen]

TSN is just showing its Eastern bias (again) today. They can look at replays of Niemenen's hit and Stillman's hit on Nillson earlier in the series and agree with Colin Campbell that the two had nothing in common. Except for elbowing the player directly on the head into the glass. And Stillman left his feet, something Neimenen didn't. There's double standards afoot, I say. Its especially galling to see something right in front of you and have someone say it didn't really happen. Big Brother and doublespeak. Not that Niemenen doesn't deserve his penalty, but it just doesn't seem to go the other way with Tampa. The Teflon team.

[CentreHice]

Sutter speaks out after Nieminen's suspension.

From the Toronto Star:

The truth hurts, says Sutter

TAMPA, Fla. (CP) — Darryl Sutter refused to back down a day after calling into question the integrity of the NHL following Ville Nieminen's one-game suspension.

The head coach and general manager of the Calgary Flames said he didn't let his emotions get the better of him Wednesday when he hinted that people in the league's head office didn't want his underdog team to win.

"It wasn't emotional," Sutter said Thursday after his team's pre-game skate. "I told the truth. The truth hurts. Not everything you read or hear is fact or fiction, but when you tell the truth sometimes it hurts."

His comments on Wednesday drew a sharp rebuke from commissioner Gary Bettman, who in a statement called Sutter's rant "ill-advised, inappropriate and inaccurate." Bettman also likely fined Sutter but that won't be disclosed until after the series.

When asked about Bettman's response, Sutter only said: "Whatever he says." And when asked a final time if there was anything he would take back from Wednesday's news conference, Sutter had had enough.

Sutter's comments, meanwhile, caught the attention of some players in the opposing dressing room. Veteran Lightning centre Tim Taylor said it was a good ploy on Sutter's part.

"That's a rallying call for his team," Taylor said after his team's pre-game skate. "He's saying it's them against the league. And I respect that. He's doing his job."

Tampa defenceman Jassen Cullimore was intrigued by Sutter's rant.

"I didn't realize the NHL picked a team," Cullimore said. "I think they're proud of both teams and I don't think they favour one over the other. In an ideal world, they might think probably that the two other teams (conference final losers Philadelphia and San Jose) would be here as far as the ratings go."

Don't count on it Jassen....the two biggest U.S. markets (NJ-NY and Anaheim-L.A.) couldn't draw ratings last year.

I have to agree with Sutter. Could be a coaching play...but tonight's officiating will tell a lot. Imagine Calgary going home with a chance to win the Cup...I hope so, but it's not likely.

The best the Bettman NHL can hope for now (ratings-wise) is a Game 7 with Tampa winning it. The best hockey fans can hope for is that the best team wins unaided by the zebras.

[CentreHice]

After the first period in Game 5. No complaints....until both refs missed a 5-minute boarding call by Sarich on Gelinas. Why wasn't it called? Because Gelinas got up?

My lord....even Harry Neale pointed it out.

So far all of the penalties called have been blatant.....why not that one. Every bit as dangerous as Nieminen's.

Lecavalier doesn't look the worse for wear does he?

EDIT: After 2nd Period.......

Nice seeing-eye shot by Iginla...but a softie for Khabibulin from that angle. Calgary outshot Tampa 14-3. I don't know...I still look for the Flames to get a weak-a$$ penalty called against them and Tampa to score. They have only 12 shots after two periods.
And I'd really like to hear Neale pronounce Lecavalier correctly once. He always says Lecavlier.

Let's go Flames.

EDIT: After OT....what an effort. For a while there it looked as if the Lightning were going to get another one of their "bounces"....when the Flames missed that 3-on-1 and 2-on-1 in the third period, it didn't look good....but as hard as the Lightning worked, the Flames outworked them. Iginla is amazing.

I can't even comment on the play-by-play and colour....it's too frustrating. If EVER there was a time to be homers, it's NOW Bob and Harry. Join Cherry on this one...it's Calgary!

[PTH]

Khabibulin was terrible this game, none of the goals should have been let in, if we go by the usual strict standards we see on this board.

A plain old deflection ? A bad angle shot ? Giving up a rebound ? TB should trade the overpaid loser....

[CentreHice]

PTH said:

Khabibulin was terrible this game, none of the goals should have been let in, if we go by the usual strict standards we see on this board.

A plain old deflection ? A bad angle shot ? Giving up a rebound ? TB should trade the overpaid loser....

Agreed, if that had been Theo and the Habs, I know I would have been all over him. Or Garon, if it had been so. I admit it. And Tampa fans have every right to feel the same. Even though Khabi made a lot of quality saves tonight....he let his team down on the first and second goals for sure. First goal...stick on the ice--it doesn't go in. Iginla's goal was terribly played. The OT goal was more the fault of the Tampa D, who let Saprykin stand there and get two whacks at the puck right in front.

You're right, though....amazing how we'll gloss over the exact mistakes made by other players just because they're not wearing the CH. But that's true for fans of all teams.

[CentreHice]

After Game 6:

The two penalties called on Calgary in the second period were absolute jokes. Especially the second one. The Flames had just scored to tie it at 1-1...then Conroy got one of the weakest calls I've seen. Obstruction hooking on Lecavalier....and voila..Richards scores again.

And they said the rebound off Gelinas' skate that appeared to go in (white ice shown between the goal line and the puck, was "inconclusive" from any angle because the puck was in the air. How "convenient". Since the review happened well after the play had resumed...could it still have been determined a goal or not? If yes, then the Flames just got ripped off huge.

EDIT: Just read a couple of articles from the Calgary Sun....Darryl Sutter said it wasn't a goal (probably trying to avoid a bigger fine). Don Cherry said it wasn't a goal. Ron MacLean and Gary Thorne said it was a goal. How could that one highlight that clearly shows white ice between the puck and the goal line be inconclusive? If that had been the Leafs, the media would be in an uproar. And don't tell me that with all of the cameras in today's game that there isn't an overhead view that clearly shows the truth. If anything's inconclusive, it's whether or not this Final is being called fairly.

Good luck in Game 7 boys....and rekindle that PP...if you get a chance.

[MC Habber]

I thought it was inconclusive. The puck was in the air above the goal line. Probably the only way to tell for sure would be to have a camera directly over the goal line, but of course the crossbar would be in the way. Also notice that the flames didn't ask the referees to go upstairs.

[Deleted]

You can never be too sure with these two teams. I have difficulty watching Tampa win Game 7, yet at the same time, I think the Flames look like they're almost out of gas.

Yikes.

[seventeen]

I was in Calgary Saturday and it was a really upbeat atmosphere....in the whole town. I saw the game on tv and that was a downer. The whole city was ready to celebrate and enjoy the moment. Unfortunate. I agree that the penalty on Conroy was really weak. In the 3rd, a Tampa guy did the same thing to a Calgary defensemen near the net to begin a few moments of pressure and the let it go. Both should have been let go. Neither caused a great scoring chance directly and it's just part of the game. Call the serious stuff guys or plays that take away or create scoring chances.

Tampa's had that kind of benefit the entire playoffs, as we recall vs the Habs when it seemed they got a penalty whenever they really needed one. We didn't deserve to win for sure, but we were good for 2 games, I figure.

[CentreHice]

Game 7 after 2 periods:

Shots are 10-7 Lightning. Calgary has 4 penalties...Tampa 1. Angels.

Either Calgary's out of gas, or Tampa's clutching and grabbing and getting away with it away from the puck. You can't hold a team like the Flames to just 7 shots over two periods with good clean positional coverage only.

Khabibulin hasn't even broken a sweat. Unreal.

Reminds me of when Jersey held the Leafs to 6 shots over the whole playoff game a few years ago.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

I would not have wanted to be Fraser in the final game. I honestly don't know what I would have called in the final two minutes had it been me. Bummer of a situation to be put in, for it seemed fitting (not right); if anyone was going to make a big call, it would be Fraser.

• Still, hats off to both teams. Just an incredible tempo to tonight's game.
  
  
• Nice to see Brad Richards with the MVP and Vinny with the Cup over his head.
  
  
• Do you think Dallas would like to have Jerome Iginla back?
  
  
• Visualizing Hulk Hogan with the Cup just doesn't do it for me, but I'll get over it I guess.
  
  
• Anyone see those two Calgary chicks before the game? That rocked!
  
  
• The Tampa coaching staff once said that Jason Cullimore was their best defenseman.
  
  
• I really wanted to see Martin Gelinas with the Cup.
  
  
• Was Sutter ever composed after the game or what?
  

Here's to next year whenever that will be.

Cheers.

[Montrealer]

Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a wonderful run, and to Calgary for making it a great series.

Hats off.