Saturday morning I posted over at The Fanhouse about John Tortorella's response to the egg his team laid at home against the Panthers the night before. Now Torts' Tampa team gets the Devils in the first round of the playoffs. All the numbers say the series will go the Devils' way (and quickly), but for some reason my gut says otherwise. Am I crazy to pick the Bolts?
Monday, April 09, 2007
John Tortorella's Not Panicking - Should He Be?
Saturday morning I posted over at The Fanhouse about John Tortorella's response to the egg his team laid at home against the Panthers the night before. Now Torts' Tampa team gets the Devils in the first round of the playoffs. All the numbers say the series will go the Devils' way (and quickly), but for some reason my gut says otherwise. Am I crazy to pick the Bolts?
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Did they just trade for Khabibulin or something?
I know, I'm crazy. I'm actually previewing that series over at FanHouse and, as you'll see, I'm risking my reputation as a sane person with an ounce of hockey knowledge by picking the Bolts there as well.
The Bolts are one of the most talented offensive teams and feature some of the best forward veterans around. Their great glaring weakness is in goal. They could offer a challenge against a team like the Devils that prefers to score small and defend their lead. Of course, NJ has some capable scorers, too, it's just not their game-plan. I expect it to be a better series than most people might predict, though I think the Devils must still win; their goaltending is just too strong.
The Bolts went 3-1 against the Devils this year, outscoring them 10-6 total... so you're not completely batshit.
But if--as the strawmen say--goaltending wins playoff games, you need to lay off the scotch on weekdays.
Unless the Lightning completely self-destruct (a very real possibility on any given game night), then I think they'll give the Devils a good run in the first round... essentially making this series a toss-up.
Short answer - yeah.
Slightly lengthier answer - Teams that lean on a single line as much as TBY does are always at a potential disadvantage. BUT! I think this is going to be the best series out of the four first-round matchups in the East. This is the one most likely to go seven games.
(Now watch Tampa sweep them and we all have a good chuckle at my expense.)
You're not crazy.
Well, okay, you're not crazy because you picked the Bolts.
I think Tampa could take this series too, or at least make it interesting. It's basically one of the league's best offenses (or offensive threesomes) against one of the league's best defenses. It's a crap shoot.
Now if you started saying that Clemmensen would get the start in any postseason games this year...then I'd be calling the men in white coats.
Of course that forward corps is a catch-22: They'd better have an awesome F corps given how much money they spend on them. And where aren't they spending $? In goal.
I've got a great idea for Tampa - get bounced, trade Richards for Fleischmann and Eminger and use the money saved on Giguere. No? Damn.
Richards in Washington would give me a perpetual semi.
Indeed.
Richards had a lousy year, and with no money to get him a decent wing to play with, he has almost become a waste of money there. I know they'd never trade him within the Division (if they would trade him anywhere at all), but this is the time of year to dream, isn't it?
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