Funny how things work sometimes....three of the four second-round series have taken the exact same path so far: the lower-seeded team won the first game, and the higher-seeded team has come back to win three straight games.....so now Calgary, Lethbridge, and Tri-City are poised to end those series tomorrow night and move into the semifinals.
I have to say I am a little bit surprised by the Ice/Hurricanes series. Reading Ice reporter Jeff Bromley's commentary on the series so far (his blog link is on the left), it sounds like Lethbridge is just completely outclassing the Ice in this series. Given the success the Ice had in the games between the two teams in the regular season, I was sure the Ice would give the Canes a little more of a test than this. From the sounds of things, game three was just a nightmare for the Ice; they failed to show up and were outshot 51-13 and the powerplays were 16-4 for the Hurricanes. For what it's worth, no team had more than 13 powerplays in a game in the entire regular season this year.
After botching both home games, I'd be surprised if the Ice can summon up enough to win three straight and pull off this series. I'm thinking they go out quietly tomorrow night.
How much must the Broncos be hating the 2-3-1-1 format of their series with the Hitmen right now? After getting only a split in the opening two in Swift, the Broncos had to play three in a row in Calgary. They lose a double (nearly triple) OT heartbreaker in game three and then fall again last night in a more conservatively played game four.
Given how badly the Broncos have been outplayed in the last six and a half periods in Calgary, and the last two big losses, can they come back from this 3-1 hole when they still have to play game five in Calgary tomorrow before they can have another home game?
In the Tri/Seattle series, after getting spanked 7-1 in the opener, the Americans are looking like the first-overall team they are. The scores in games 3 and 4 were close but the Ams have outshot the Birds 36-22, 45-24, and 40-33 in the three wins. After scoring 7 goals in the opener, the T-Birds have managed just four goals in the three losses, all of which they have had to play without their best defenceman, Thomas Hickey, who suffered a concussion in game one.
Seattle insists that Hickey has had medical clearance to play in all three games that he has missed but that they're holding him out anyway. I have a bridge to sell anyone who believes that a team down 2-1 in a series will voluntarily sit out their best defenceman and PP QB in game four when the doctors have said he can play.
A little later today I'll post something I've been kicking around for the last week.....how much playoff experience does each remaining team have. Does having a lot of post-season experience help?
Oh - and sorry for no posts in the last week. Things have been hectic in my real-life job as a secret agent.....
3 comments:
I've read in several places where Lethbridge was 4 for 16 (25%) on the PP. Unless the way PP stats are calculated has changed, this is incorrect.
The Ice had 14 minor penalties with 1 being offsetting, therefore 13 PP opportunities for Lethbridge. For some reason the Stats page shows the 2 Misconducts and 1 Game Suspension as being PP opportunities. That means Lethbridge was 4 for 13 (31%). The Ice were to be shorthanded for 26 minutes, however that was cut short by 1:52 due to the 4 goals against and was further shortened by the 3:50 where they were 2 men short. They played with less than 5 skaters for a total of 20:17 which is more than a full period.
On the flip side, Lethbridge had 5 minors with 1 offsetting, so 8 minutes. They were scored against twice to shorten their time to 5:51. The Ice were 2 for 4 (50%).
Stats Guy...
When the game was ending and the Ice were trying to cause a fracus I had the 'Canes at 1-12. There the last few misconducts and when I went to file the summary I double checked the pp's. That's when I saw the 4-16. Didn't sound right then and now that you look back on the game sheet, you're right. Not that it made much of a difference. 'Canes should give the Hitties a good run and the Chiefs-Ams, if the Chiefs get that far, will be the best final four in a long time.
JB
It is tough to figure out PP stats from a game sheet without diving in to the details. Game sheet summary errors occur fairly regularly. This is in no way criticism of the scorekeepers. I've made game sheet errors over the years because the game simply moves along so fast when you're attempting to record the information. All things considered, the league does a pretty good job in most cities of updating the sheets on the fly for view on their web-site.
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