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

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Game 4: the first DVR-enhanced recap

I meant to post my thoughts last night, but was unable. Here's a grand assortment of what I wrote in my crusty little notebook while zooming through the Stars-Ducks Game 4:

  • Todd Bertuzzi either needs to retire or go to Sweden, because he's a waste of life. I remember someone hit an outlet pass to Bertuzzi to set up a 2 on 1. Normally, I'm about to pass out when a team has a 2 on 1. But since it was Bertuzzi, it was easy as a Sunday morning.
Naturally, the play resulted in a flimsy, useless shot.

  • Razor Reaugh was in playoff form on the mic in Game 4. There were many gems from the verbose one, but there were two moments that were particularly special:
When Stu Barnes fed Steve Ott for the Stars' third goal, Reaugh said "the architect to the plunderer." And when Chris Pronger was predictably receiving jeers from Stars fans, he said such a sound "might as well be on his iPod." Good stuff.

  • Was the Ducks' team meal at Pei Wei or something? Sluggish city.
  • Honestly, something seemed wrong with Scott Niedermayer too. I'd say he should retire, but I'll never get tired of watching Lightningbeard skate. His skating style reminds me of those chocolate bar commercials when they drizzle the chocolate onto nougat.
If that's not a compliment I don't know what is.
  • Doug Weight was completely invisible. If no one else, Dead Weight needs to hang 'em up.
  • If the Stars pull off an amazing Cup run, Brendan Morrow is the odds-on favorite to win the Conn Smythe. He's been a beast.
  • It's always uncomfortable to watch a go-nowhere powerplay. You know the ones I'm talking about: when your team cannot even get the friggin' puck past the blue line. Those always flash me back to those awkward moments in high school when the teacher asks the class a question ... and not a single person raises a hand. Bad times.
  • Special teams made the difference in this series. The Stars scored four powerplay goals in Game 1; two in Game 2; two in Game 3 and none in Game 4. The Stars scored more than half of their goals (8 of 14) on the man advantage.
  • To give the Brad Richards trade a fair chance, you simply have to look past his $7.8 million contract. He'll never live up to that, but he does give the Stars an added dimension of creativity. Now the Stars need to give him a solid winger in free agency, because it's clear that his current line mates struggle to finish the great chances he sets up.
  • Marty Turco posted a spiritual shutout, garbage goal be damned.
  • I thought that if the Stars won this series, they would need to prove a lot. I never thought the Ducks would barely show up. I guess gooning it up takes a lot out of you these days...But we'll see if they have one last gasp of energy. The Stars have to treat the Ducks like a horror movie villain: keep killing them until they stop moving.

10 comments:

Earl Sleek said...

Hey! Picking on Weight and Bertuzzi is my job!

Seriously, hopefully the Stars are paying some of their salary for their contributions this series.

jamestobrien said...

I actually made a $5 bet with a friend of mine that Bertuzzi would be a healthy scratch in this series.

Let's just say I've been mocking him even before his cowardly neck breaking act.

There's plenty of room for everyone to mock Big Bert.

heed said...

GO STARS!!! ughh, i feel so dirty inside.

antro said...

heed, you are dirty inside

yeah, the bertuzzi karma has damned this team, and the andy mcdonald salary dump (or what ever it was) isn't helping.

i still have to say that i'm surprised at how well the stars seemed to have contained the ducks.

Anonymous said...

What a dour tone being taken in jamestobrien's post. While I was reading I thought I might have missed the Stars series-clinching victory. I suppose Sharks fans don't have the market cornered on overreaction.

Mr. Plank said...

I suppose Sharks fans don't have the market cornered on overreaction.

We may not have it cornered, but we sure as hell have it covered.

Earl Sleek said...

Could John secretly be a James O'Brien fan?

Maverik said...

Since when did the Battle of CALIFORNIA have a Stars blogger?

Earl Sleek said...

Aw, BoC isn't about strict rules. We're all hockey fans, and that's good enough for me.

Besides, the Stars have played CA teams more than any other franchise; I think it's a decent perspective.

And if the question is really "since when?", well O'Brien started before Rudy or Cheechew. He's got tenure.

Anonymous said...

Being a transplanted Ducks fan in Dallas ain't easy (even though I've got Game 6 tix), but it does give me ample opportunity to hear Razor.

In just a few years, he's become one of my all-time favorite color commentators. He's about the only guy I know who can (and does so frequently) use the word "luscious" to describe a hockey play in a non-gay way (not that there's anything wrong with that).