I don't have a lot to say about the game tonight. Clearly Colorado was the better team and deserved the W. For me, there is plenty of blame to go around (see today's Russo Rants), but I put it largely on the shoulders of 2 players, Marian and Backstrom.
There's no denying Marian played hard this series, but for a team's star player to end up with 1 assist through 6 games is ridiculous. I would under no circumstances give him a huge money extension this summer. Sure, I would try and extend him, it would be silly not to, but I'm just saying not for Ovechkin or Briere type money. Something in the 7 million range is fine, but no more than that. And if he balks at that, trade him.
Goaltending was the key difference here. Jose Theodore was much better than Backstrom. That's really what it came down to. Theodore stole a game and Backstrom did not. The wrap around shot by Smyth last night would've been stopped by Theodore, but Backstrom was so deep in the net his ass was touching the netting. Get out and cut down the angle!
In any event, the better team won. My heartfelt congratulations go out to the Colorado bloggers who I'll continue to read throughout their playoff run.
For me and this blog, it's time to take some time off. If major Wild events break, I'll definitely post, but I plan on just sitting back and enjoying the remainder of the playoffs sans blogging. I'll have plenty to say in future weeks about who should stay and who should go, what exactly I think about DR's future, Lemaire's possible retirement and maybe even some
5 comments:
my list of "keepers" (no thought put into length of current contracts) which includes staff:
Burns, Foster, Schultz
Koivu, Voros, Veilleux, Sheppard, Fridge
Harding (Backup)
Folks i could be convinced to keep:
Bouchard, Rolston, Belanger, Parrish (only guy who camps in front), Simon, Johnsson, Backstrom (depending on whos available in off season)
Folks who just gotta go:
Gaborik, Demitra, Skoula, Radiohead, dare i say lemaire...
hate to say it but gabs seems to play hard only once in a while, cut him while we could get something for him, clean house and hope new management can shell out some more bucks, i think this state deserves it for once, maybe we stop selling out our games, i dont know, im personally sick of mn consistently being in the middle muddle for sports, hockey is our best hope for stardom!
also let me say im still upset from last night / last week. second thought gaborik for s. koivu?????
Congrats on a good game, series and season. It was a fun series and I enjoyed your take on things.
I think you may be blaming gaborik for being shut down by adam foote give credit where credit is due (how many goals did gaborik score this year?)and can you do without that regular season production hes the reason you won the Northwest.
no, i've blamed gaborik for more than this series, watching him play gives me a sort of "play when i want" randy moss attitude. some times he is amazing and speedy, others he can be a burden, i would rather have consistency in a player even if it meant loosing a little talent.
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