Sabres vs. Bruins: When will I get my couch back?
by Dominik on Apr 15, 2010 4:46 PM EDT
in This, That & What-Not
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(3) Buffalo Sabres (45-27-10) vs. (6) Boston Bruins (39-30-13)
SBN coverage: Die by the Blade | Stanley Cup of Chowder
Before we get to the poll and a story (after the jump), a fun "will he or won't he?" article from Sun Media about Nystrom the Younger, who is headed to the World Championship to play for Team USA and his future coach Scott Gordon: Nystrom Not Aiming for Isles.
| Thursday, April 15 | at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m. | CBC | |
| Saturday, April 17 | at Buffalo, 1:00 p.m. | NBC, CBC | |
| Monday, April 19 | at Boston, 7:00 p.m. | VERSUS, CBC | |
| Wednesday, April 21 | at Boston, 7:00 p.m. | VERSUS, CBC | |
| *Friday, April 23 | at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m. | CBC | |
| *Monday, April 26 | at Boston, 7:00 p.m. | CBC | |
| *Wednesday, April 28 | at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m. | CBC | |
I'm sorry to say I haven't watched much of either the Sabres or the Bruins this season. (Okay, not that sorry about the Bruins; whatever entertainment they'd provide was likely mitigated by all their injuries.) So I'm stuck with what I've read and what I know from previous viewings and their performance against the Islanders -- both of which could be way off.
But since my good friend (I was his best man, which is a fancy title for, "Chief of Making Sure Groom Shows up to Wedding Basically Sober and on Time") is a Sabres fan, and Versus is only showing part of this series, and I have Center Ice -- well, he's going to be squatting my couch for the next couple of weeks. Which means I'm gonna be watching some B on B action.
(It was pretty awkward on my couch back in 2001 when Darius Kasparaitis beat Dominik Hasek in OT to eliminate the Sabres. I was pulling for Mario Lemieux -- and then when Kaspar was the guy who scored, well...I tried to temper my enthusiasm as my friend had just been punched in the gut by a guy who was impossible to like if he hadn't played for your team.)
My buddy also hates the Jacobses for their years of being cheapskates during the Ray Bourque years, so he's not only rooting for his hometown Sabres -- he's ready to take extra joy if they hit Jacobs in the wallet. But he's also a world-weary cynic used to disappointment...
Disappointing to me is the news Jochen Hecht is out. I don't even know if the German is still as effective as he once was, but I always liked him, and his do-the-little things game can be fun to watch when the stakes are highest. I remember when the German Olympic team seemed like Olaf Kolzig and Hecht. It was cool watching Jochen become an NHLer.
I'm not the only one who will miss him:
Two Goalies Enter, One Goalie Leaves
For the behind-the-numbers inclined, there are a couple of interesting cases made that the Bruins underachieved this year just as much as they overachieved last year. Now, why that "over" or "under" achievement should stop now, of all times, instead of at any other random point during a season, I don't know. But these two teams might be closer than you'd think about a team that was up for the #2 seed until the final days of the season and a team that used those final days to squeak into the playoffs.
I figure Buffalo goes as Ryan Miller and their offense go; but then Boston goes as Tukka Rask and their offense goes. With the Bruins more banged up (both currently and cumulatively), I'd still be inclined to bet on Buffalo. But there's a good reason I don't gamble on athletes. Time to watch the games.
Prediction of Sorts
Head Says: Sabres in seven. Heart Says: You know what? Sabres in seven. I love intradivisional playoff series -- the longer the better. A Sabres win in seven would be fun and would satisfy my good friend (excluding his cardiac health, of course). Then again, that'd mean he'll be controlling the remote well into Round 2...
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Sabies in 4!
I’m riding a lucky streak as of late!
Casey Borer jersey in the mail!
and to be honest, I don’t think there has been a team that Hecht has been on where he hasn’t been useful in one form or another, he will be missed. However, Buffalo has a nice crop of young guns in Kennedy, Gerbe and Ennis that gelled well together in Portland over the last two seasons. Back to back AHL rookies of the year isn’t too shabby! I look forward to an exciting series for sure.
I cannot wait for Rakh-tober.
Sabres in 6
Rask Keeps the Bruins in it, except he’s the only one playing this series.
Plus remember how badly Boston did last year in the playoffs.
One step closer to my dream Cup matchup of Sabres – Canucks.
Mauldin Played for Columbus a few years ago, He has six career games.
I know who you’re taking in the LA series then… (yeah, me too).
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
Good Game 1 so far
Vanek scored very early, nearly had a line brawl stirred by Lucic, Kaleta and Chara — with Miller and Rask just staring at each other at the top of their creases from opposite ends of the rink.
And now the Bruins just tied it at 1-1 midway through the second.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
Habs win in OT. Took a page out of the Rangers book last year and put 4 men on Ovie everytime he touched the puck.
Mauldin Played for Columbus a few years ago, He has six career games.
Plekanec!
That was sweet. Well, the underdog stealing Game 1 in OT, anyway.
Montreal really outplayed them in OT. Gomez looked like the good Gomez.
Lighthouse Hockey: Playing the NHL Lotto
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1979-80
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May 24, 1980: Tonelli to Nystrom. At long last, the steady build of the New York Islanders from expansion doormat to surprise semifinalist to annual contender reaches the promised land: Buoyed by a late season trade for Butch Goring that gave the team the depth up the middle GM Bill Torrey had been seeking, the Islanders knock off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
1980-81
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May 21, 1981: This time it was much easier. After falling to "only" 91 points in the 1979-80 season, the Islanders returned to their division title tradition, piling up 110 points -- a whole 13 points over second-place Philadelphia.
Between the quarterfinals (where they beat the upstart Oilers in six games) and the finals, the Islanders reeled off eight consecutive wins -- with a four-game sweep of archrival Rangers in between. As they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games for their second Cup, their goal difference in the final was a combined +10.
1981-82
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May 16, 1982: Another year, another landslide title. The Islanders won the Patrick Division by a whopping 26 points over the second-place Rangers, and were seven points clear of their nearest competition for the President's Trophy, the still-not-quite-ripe Edmonton Oilers.
A first-round scare against the Pittsburgh Penguins turned in the Isles' favor thanks to John Tonelli's heroics, and a true dynasty was on its way: Past the Rangers in six games, then an eight-game sweep of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks to run away with the Stanley Cup.
1982-83
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May 17, 1983: Not so fast, whipper-snappers. The Edmonton Oilers' steadily rising challenge for league supremacy took them all the way to the finals for the first time, where the New York Islanders summarily dispatched them in a four-game sweep. For the Islanders, the Dynasty was secured. For the Oilers, it was a powerful lesson in where talent ends and the demands of playoff hockey begin.
Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
