Is it bad hockey karma to bench Teemu during his last Stanley Cup run? Who knows. It's hard to track the effectiveness of the absurd. It did not, however, seem to help. And it isn't helping Gabby look like a better playoff coach.
Speaking of easy media narratives, that may or may not be true, how about that Fleury kid. It's too bad. He seems like a good guy, with all the physical tools, who is beloved by teammates and picks the absolute worst moments to commit major gaffes. Every goalie does this. We all remember Patrick Roy's, "look at me" moment when he dropped the puck on a save while showing off. That didn't effect Roy's legacy. But Fleury had this story primed for us coming into the league. He misplayed the puck in the World Junior Championships and gave Russia the Gold. (I think it was Russia, might have been the U.S.). That type of priming matters in the media. There are only a certain amount of acceptable story lines at any time. Right now, the good goalie who can't take the pressure is a well-established and easy yarn to spin. I think he gets one more chance, with a short leash and instructions to stay in the net.
Blues / Blackhawks is a pretty great series. I can't love it. I can't muster an emotional attachment to either side. I do appreciate it. It has most of the things I love in hockey. It rides the edge of disaster and injurious play--with one notable jump over the line. It has great systems and the skill and will to exploit the inevitable gaps in those systems. It has, at times, great goaltending. And it has players emerging as playoff warriors that are too often dismissed as interchangeable role players--Bickell take a step forward and wave to the crowd.
I've been right about one goaltending prediction. I said we'd see Hiller in this series. I don't know if he'll get the next start but he is only a symptom of a bigger problem. Anaheim's defencemen are not great. And their team defence can't make up for this. They aren't Pittsburgh bad at defence, but they rely on great forwards. When those forwards start getting injured they are in huge trouble.
And apparently Sid has lost 5 to 7 km/h of top speed. That ain't good. He relies on hustle and outside drives to the net. If he can't go at top speed, he is too small to protect the puck as well and becomes less of a threat. Granted, being the best forward in the world means you can be less of a threat and still a considerable asset. But the Pens are looking sunk. Once my other goaltending prediction comes true and we see Vokoun in the net maybe the Pens will settle down. Or, maybe they'll get bounced and we'll see another year of Crosby and Malkin's primes wasted by poor coaching, unfortunate goaltending and a cap system that causes all organizations to regress to the mean.
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