Ducks Gameday—A prehistoric suggestion
Anaheim Ducks (25-17-6, 3rd in west) at Nashville Predators (22-19-4, 12th in west)
It occurred to me after making the cartoon below that the saber-toothed fossil that inspired the Predator name and logo was found in a cave, not dug out from tar pits, but what am I, a prehistorian?
Hint: black = tar.
A few weeks ago, I called my dad out for having a crazy notion: could Scott Niedermayer win a half-season Hart? Well, he's happy to have pointed out to me that he's not alone in this lunacy, now there's an ESPN writer who's got his back (I hesitate to tell him what I think about ESPN's hockey expertise).
In the linked article, Damien Cox isolates Niedermayer in Anaheim and goalie Ty Conklin in Pittsburgh as two guys who have been inserted into lineups and turned mediocre results into top-tier results, and that's certainly commendable. But is either player really the most valuable on his own team? Even as these teams continue to accumulate wins, is Scott more valuable than Pronger, and is Conklin more valuable than Crosby? It's a tricky question because it's easy to confuse order with importance, but feel free to win me over in the comments. At any rate, the Duck / Penguin resurgence is the topic of my latest PuckToon at Fanhouse (link won't work until 11 am publish time).
Prediction: This is the last matchup of the season for these two teams, and the home squad has won the first three. Ducks buck the trend and win on the road tonight. Ducks 5, Preds 2. Goals by Perry x2 (happy now?), Bochenski, Carter, and Pronger. For some Nashville perspective, go see the Forechecker.
Go Ducks.
6 comments:
actually, Earl, the Pens are 10-0-1 with Conks; the L was...well, several people should be blamed, undoubtedly, but Conks wasn't in the net.
*Factchecking*, man!
(You do know steroids don't help hockey players and can only end badly, right?...but I laughed anyway. :P)
Valid point, but I fully meant to use the team's record. Unless they somehow can convince the league to lift that loss because "Conklin wasn't involved", it stands as the record they've put together since Conks became their #1.
Still, impressive work from the SCF has-been.
(You do know steroids don't help hockey players and can only end badly, right?...but I laughed anyway. :P)
Wait, the Fanhouse cartoon is available for early viewing? I thought only I could see it because I wrote it. Oh well, then no waiting required! Enjoy!
the penguins are a team I'd love to have a do-over with...
damn 5pm games...Im gonna miss the 1st period...
I don't know, it's a tricky question. Wouldn't you say that Niedermayer doesn't have to be more valuable than Pronger, but more valuable than whoever he's replacing? If the situation's were reversed and it was Pronger coming back, I'd probably say the same thing. It's easy to make the causal connection because his return did coincide with the Ducks' resurgence, but I'm not sure if they're actually connected.
And saying Ty Conklin is the most valuable anything is ridiculous. He wouldn't even win the award for the most valuable Ty Conklin. (There's a Ty Conklin in Wichita who CARRIES his auto parts store.)
Goals by Perry x2 (happy now?)
Only 1 (one) out of every 5; comprende?
also, in the too cool for school department: http://www.winjiggysloft.com
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