Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Because it bears repeating

Stealing from the vault, here's the man-love poem I concocted back in November. See if you can spot the Mr. T reference hidden in line two:

ODE TO PAHLSSON

S ome fans like scorers, some fans like squee,
A s for Earl? He’s a sucka for ol’ Sammy P.
M aster of Defense, Penalty Killer, and Pest,
U nrelenting, Hard-working, Sammy’s the best!
E very night he faces another top line,
L eading Duck forwards in average ice time.

P uck-pressuring forecheck gives Ducks a lift,
A gain and again, I say, “Jeez, whatta shift!”
H e’s killing this year, with Moen and R. Nieds,
L ike he did playing with the gold-winning Swedes.
S elke may have been a good checking forward,
S crew him, though! It should be the Pahlsson Award!
O h Sammy, if you’re reading, one thing I must say,
N ever ever leave Anaheim. This God I pray.


Apparently I was somewhat of a poet back then, but words fail me now. Great work, Sammy.

LATE NIGHT ADDENDUM: Here's how dominant the Pahlsson-Moen-Niedermayer unit has been this postseason. In the search for some 5-on-5 offense:
  • Gaborik has been separated from Demitra
  • Sedin has been separated from Sedin
  • Datsyuk has been separated from Zetterberg
  • Heatley has been separated from Alfredsson
Pahlsson is god.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't want to jinx anything, but I think that a certain trophy (the name of which rhymes with Yon Wythe) just might have to be split into three pieces. One piece for Sammy, one for Robby, and one for Travis.

Anonymous said...

unassisted... because though he's a team player, Sammy can get the job done all by himself.

Anonymous said...

The Sammy love is spreading. :D
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=314710

Bethany said...

I am really happy you guys won...and I think I figured out who to cheer for.

Unknown said...

S - Sloshed
L - Lush
E - Eventually
E - Emotes
K - Kindness

Dear Lord Stanley said...

His name is Samuel Pahlsson. His name is Samuel Pahlsson. His name is Samuel Pahlsson. His name is Samuel Pahlsson.

Anonymous said...

OK, now I think it's definitely a matter of the Ducks playing extremely well. I'm not saying the Sens have given their best effort yet, but it's not as if they haven't been trying. They simply haven't come up against team defense like Anaheim's so far in the playoffs. Not sure if other Sens fans agree, but that's what I'm seeing. Ottawa has to take both the games at Scotiabank Place or else...well, I don't want to think about "or else."

Sean Zandberg said...

Well, Earl, with Pahlsson having a tremendous post season, I believe you will finally get your wish for him to get his Selke Trophy. He is a beauty no doubt about it.

Black Dog said...

Problem is they vote on the trophies before the post season.

Secret is out though Earl. And I have to admit - if I didn't read this blog I'd probably be Sammy Who? I don't even remember him from last year's playoffs - was he hurt?

The guy is terrific and although I picked the Sens to win the series I did think the Ducks would be a terrible matchup for them. They might have handled the Wings but the DUcks can shut down the big line and they have two other lines who can play with the Sens other lines. In earlier series the big line for the Sens smoked their opp and the other Sens lines tended to play even or outscore.

Not going to win when you have no ES goals in two games.

Bryan said...

Yeah. Sammy has my Conn Smythe vote since he makes that line go. 10 of 12 faceoffs in G2. Are you kidding me? Leading the team in hits. 2 game winning goals.

And last year, Sammy had the same job playing with Friesen and Robby.

Anonymous said...

SAMMY ROCKS!!!

Earl Sleek said...

Secret is out though Earl. And I have to admit - if I didn't read this blog I'd probably be Sammy Who? I don't even remember him from last year's playoffs - was he hurt?

Sammy as I recall was playing and well. Some lines are able to beat Sammy; some are not. He was huge against Iginla in G6 and G7 when Carlyle started shadowing, and he was also great on Sakic for the sweep.

Maybe the rust got to him last year, I dunno. Mostly the Oil kept the Ducks off the board, and most times that's not Sammy's responsibility anyway.

As for the secret being out, it's actually kind of bumming in a weird way. I mean, he used to be such a cult hero for me, now he's just a regular everybody hero. :)

They might have handled the Wings but the Ducks can shut down the big line and they have two other lines who can play with the Sens other lines. In earlier series the big line for the Sens smoked their opp and the other Sens lines tended to play even or outscore.

Yeah, and that was the one snag I had coming into this series. I really had no metric for Ottawa, or much else out east--I've really only followed the west this year. But it just seemed to me that a one-line-heavy offense isn't really the right type of team to beat the Ducks.

Depends on the line, obviously. Through 2 games, though, Sammy's definitely got a huge edge.

Yeah. Sammy has my Conn Smythe vote since he makes that line go.

Well, I did write a Sammy for Smythe post after round one.

Black Dog said...

That's some great stuff Earl.

Spezza said, and he is right, that there has to be offence coming from elsewhere and of course he is right on that point. Selanne's line has been quiet for a lot of the playoffs but the Duck's still get it done.

Balanced scoring is necessary. Ducks are proving it. Oilers and Canes proved it last year.

Its a simple fact.

And that may be one reason I don't remember Pahlsson from last season so much - that Oiler team didn't really have a line to shut down.

Anonymous said...

Just wanna point something out.
Heatley and Alfredsson aren't a duo. It was Heatley and Spezza during the season. Alfredsson was there only in the begin of the season and was put again with them during the playoffs.