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

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Monday, May 05, 2008

Speaking of Playoff Overtime...

Well wasn't that something last night? The seventh overtime period of the six-game series, grittily played from opening whistle until Brendan Morrow's final tally early on a Cinco morning. I got the following e-mail sent to me 10 days ago, but between my 'week off' and the zaniness of the Sharks-Stars series I've been waiting to post it, but I guess now it's as appropriate as it's ever going to be:

Earl--

My name is Jonathan Harris and I work at a human-powered search service called Mahalo.com.

I've been a big fan of The Battle of California for a few seasons now and appreciate the pro-Ducks coverage I can get there (I'm a die-hard Anaheim fan myself, and am still reeling from high expectations and disappointment.)

At any rate, one of my associates at Mahalo has recently completed a page celebrating the Best Hockey OT Winners in NHL history. We think this is a great page with original content and commentary and we're trying to get it featured on as many hockey/sports related blogs as we can. I thought you might like to see it, considering your love of the game and penchant for slightly off-beat hockey content off your own (I particularly like your recent cartoon of the Sharks and Flames begging each other to score first).

Take a look at the page when you get a chance. Let us know what we're missing and how we can improve the result!

Jonathan
Nothing gets my attention like a little flattery. So, if you're inclined, take a look at their collection of OT winners and offer your suggestions, either here or on their comments section. The plug e-mail also got me thinking, though, 'What was my favorite OT winner in Anaheim's playoff history?' It's not that easy a question, I think, because it should consider:

a) The prettiness or grittiness of the goal
b) The game up to that point (were goalies unbeatable to that point?)
c) The importance of the game and perhaps what followed
d) The game-winning hero

Based on that criteria, I am leaning towards Steve Rucchin's overtime winner in G4 of the first round of the 2003 playoffs, the goal that completed the sweep of the defending champion Detroit Red Wings. It wasn't the prettiest of goals, but it was the only time I ever saw defenseman Keith Carney carry the puck behind the opponent's net, and Rucchin was as appropriate a hero as Anaheim had on that squad. It was a huge statement goal, one that vanquished the Red Wings curse that had swept Anaheim in both previous playoff appearances, and helped propel the upstart Ducks all the way to the seventh game of the cup finals.

Still, I am open to suggestions on this one, so let me open it up to the comments: For any team, what was your favorite OT winner in your team's playoff history? Who was the hero, and why was it so special?

(Side note: Incidentally, today is the 5-year anniversary of the G6 when Anaheim ousted the Dallas Stars in 2003. I remember the date specifically, because a fan sitting next to me at that game had put together one of the more memorable signs I saw that playoffs: "It's Cinco de Mayo--Time to Sink DiMaio!" Rob DiMaio was just a bit player for Dallas, of course, but I've always been a sucker for stubborn puns.)

13 comments:

RudyKelly said...

Game 6, 2001 playoffs, Kings v. Red Wings.

Earl Sleek said...

Oh yeah, and Mike Chen has a good post at his blog about OT officiating. Normally I wouldn't recommend a post about officiating from a team that just lost on a penalty kill, but I think he stays away from the whine and presents some good points about the quality of play in general.

Bottom line: the refs looked suspect last night not because of the OT calls they made, but because of the hour or so of gameplay where they did nothing.

Mike said...

1996 Western Conference Semis- Wings vs. Blues. Yzerman rips a slapshot from the blueline that goes off the post and in. Amazing shot. And I hate the Wings.

And I agree with Sleek and Mike about the zebras. To me, the whole point of having 'rules' is so you can roughly predict when a penalty does and doesn't happen. That was completely out the window last night, with each play being essentially a crap shoot. So now *this* isn't about hooking anymore... huh, how about *this*?? Nope. Ok, sweet. What about *this*? Aw, shit.

Earl Sleek said...

Game 6, 2001 playoffs, Kings v. Red Wings.

I'm too lazy to look this up. Was this the big Deadmarsh rebound goal?

RudyKelly said...

Yeah. That game was awesome. I just went and watched a clip on Youtube of that game and was struck by 2 things:

1) Adam Deadmarsh was pretty fucking cool.

2) Jesus, it's been a long time since the Kings played an important game.

Anonymous said...

Was the 2003 winner the triple OT one? Back then, NHL Radio was carried by a NY area station, and the OTs (all three of them) provided the sound-track for me digging a hole in a rather rocky section of my yard for a new tree. I'd like to think that the tree I was planting all through OT was the Montmorency cherry, which is thriving, and not the eastern redbud, which is not.

Earl Sleek said...

Was the 2003 winner the triple OT one?

Nah, the Rucchin goal was in a very short overtime (less than five minutes in, if I recall correctly).

The Ducks played three mammoth OT games in 2003, all in game one, and all on the road.

G1 at Detroit: Paul Kariya scores in the 3rd OT period (probably the one you're thinking of)

G1 at Dallas: Petr Sykora scores in the 5th OT period (longest game in Anaheim's history)

G1 at Minnesota: Petr Sykora again scores in the 2nd OT period of a scoreless game

I think all of these would be acceptable answers for "favorite ANA OT goal", as they were critical in setting the tone for each series, and all involved mammoth performances by J.S. Giguere. Still, I'm a sucker for Roochie.

Kev said...

Game 5, 2007 Conference Finals Ottawa at Buffalo

Alfie cuts through the Sabres defense like a hot knife through butter and beats Miller. I was sitting in an Internet cafe in Florence, Italy and literally jumped in joy... Geez did I get a few dirty looks. I told them if it had been a soccer game, they'd understand.

Earl Sleek said...

Good point, KBS. That's another one to add to the criteria:

e) How many awkward stares your personal OT celebration generates

And yeah, that Alfie goal was a beauty.

brokeyard said...

but because of the hour or so of gameplay where they did nothing.

Yeah, tell me about it. I see a guy have a stick through his legs one second and the next his face is on the ice with his legs in the air, and no call. I'm like "wuhHhhhhhHHH!??!!" (roughly)

Anonymous said...

The PK goal in G1 vs the wings is a close 2nd to the Ruch goal for me.

I remember we were sitting in ESPNzone @ downtown disney for G1, and there was absolutely no expectation of winning G1 or 2 in detroit from any Ducks fans. And the fact that it came in OT#3, after Lucky Luc had pinged one off the crossbar earlier, just made Kariya's goal so much more unexpected.

But that play by Carney to Ruch was so sweet. Putting the dagger in the wings at the Pond, has gotta be #1 for Duck OT goals. It's not often you see professional hockey players jump with pure elation at a round 1 win.

Earl Sleek said...

You know, one Anaheim OT goal that hasn't been brought up was G4 in the 2003 cup finals against New Jersey.

That one was huge not only because it provided a temporary tie to the series, but it also was a classic Stumpy Thomas goal that ended a 1-0 OT classic.

I don't know where that one ranks, but it's got to be in my top 3. Stumpy was one of my favorites that spring.

Scott Reynolds said...

1997 Game Seven Todd Marchant scoring against Andy Moog and the Dallas Stars pretty well created a new generation of Oiler fans who were born in the late eighties and were forcefed stories of the glory years while watching teams that were terrible. The Curtis Joseph save that immediately preceded the goal was another defining moment in that generation of Oilerhood.