Around the Rink: Mayflower Edition

"I went to a basketball game and a hockey brawl broke out..."

It's really odd to see that the Spurs-Suns NBA playoff series features more hitting and dirty play than virtually all of the NHL playoff games this season combined. I know the NHL wants to feature higher quality action, and by that I guess they mean a constant flow on the ice which incorporates more skill than grit, but I think the NHL playoff game this postseason has lost some of its unique flavor.

I really shouldn't be surprised, because I recall 10 years ago that the Bulls, Knicks and Miami Heat all engaged in post-whistle ruckuses that were right on par with the Red Wings and Avalanche.

Even in the Buffalo-Ottawa series, given the bad blood from the regular season, the play is not as centered on fierce battles in the corners and devastating checks as much as it is puck possession and making sure each player knows his proper position in all three zones. You still have the heart, soul and zeal to win the Cup which exists on every shift, but the willingness to throw oneself into the path of danger with a huge hit, or to take a risk and try to pick off a pass for a breakaway is absent - having crossed over to the gruesome sideshow of Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen of San Antonio ganging up on Steve Nash of Phoenix.

That said...Our Boy Nash is Canadian, and knows how to take an elbow to the nose and a punch to the groinal region. He also apparently knows how to take a hit, as what happened in the last Spurs-Suns game where Nash was casually strolling by the scorers table and got drilled, demonstrates. That may be the best hit I've seen in any postseason thus far. Buffalo could use a guy like Nash in the lineup, because I haven't seen too many Sabres really break a sweat in the first three games against Ottawa. Steve-O has endured a freely-flowing blood cut to the schnoz, a punch Andrew Golota would be proud of, and a check Denis Potvin wishes he'd thrown - and he gets up to dish out more punishment with his scoring and passing prowess.

And yet, this morning, I bet Lindy Ruff is hard at work concocting bizarre conspiracy scenarios as to why the favored Sabres are one game away from hitting the golf course.

Flyers eager to lock up Scottie and Big Ben

This week, the orange and black inked both Scottie Upshall and Ben Eager to two-year deals, setting them up to be youthful cornerstones of The Big Turnaround.

Eager had a relatively healthy season, six goals, 11 points, with an-NHL-best 233 (?) penalty minutes in 63 games. I have him pencilled in as a solid third-line guy, not really an "energy" player, but the guy who gets sent into the corners to dig the puck out for his linemates, and also filling the role of enforcer. You can't overestimate his value to the team, though - most nights he's not going to set off fireworks, but put in true bone-crunching effort each shift. He needs to tread the line between worker and goon to be most effective, and could do well on a mash-up line between Richards and Carter.

Upshall came here in the Forsberg deal, and immediately endeared himself to the fan base with his enthusiasm, tireless work ethic, and timely scoring. His overtime goal in Boston was one of the best non-top-line highlights in the last five years. I'm sure there will be a ton of writers and pundits who will rail on him for not reaching 20 goals next year, but he's not here to be a second-line talent - he's the "energy" guy like a Rob DiMaio or Trent Klatt. He'll get his goals any number of ways, can do wonders disrupting an opponent's top two lines, and is an effective penalty killer. He'll be the team's secret weapon on more than one night.

Other Flyers Thoughts...

At this point, I'm still in the camp which wants to put Sami Kapanen (another player rewarded with a two-year deal) permanently on defense. He's been used too sparingly on either side the last two seasons, and deserves to have a permanent spot in the lineup. Since there's not too many moderately-priced veteran defensemen on the market, it's best to have Kapanen on the backline whether or not the Flyers can get rid of Derian Hatcher. As a Finn, he can impress upon Joni Pitkanen how and when to use his puck-handling skills, and also when to be defensively responsible - something he's totally lost since Ken Hitchcock's firing.

As for the captaincy, it's not such a big deal if Simon Gagne does or does not accept responsibility; after all, Eric Desjardins was captain for a year - the first non-North American to be honored in team history. In my initial rantings from this blog back in September, I nominated Mike Knuble for the honor, and why not since the club was so quick to put the letter on Forsberg upon his arrival - Knubes has been here for two seasons, and has demonstrated excellent qualities both on and off the ice. I'd also have no beef if Kapanen was given at least a trial with it, because the European taboo was broken with Forsberg's investiture two seasons ago. I'm also not big on the rush to keep anointing a team's supposed best player the captain - and I cite Rick Tocchet, Eric Lindros and Peter Forsberg as prime examples of where that can go awry.

Final Analysis

Although the Sabres are down 3-0 with Game 4 in Ottawa Wednesday night, something tells me that Lindy Ruff has some kind of fire-and-brimstone to break out which will cause Buffalo to win this next game as well as Game 5 back at HSBC Arena. That should be enough time for the Senators to be taken aback, and recover enough to take the series in a Game 6 at home. I've heard that the Sabres are dead, but this is a 50-plus win team we're talking about here - they're not going to roll over and die - and nothing in the series has indicated they will do so. For them, it's a matter of aggressiveness, not desire.

Anaheim tying the series with Detroit says absolutely nothing about the Ducks' chances to seize control of the series once it shifts back to Southern California on Tuesday. It's actually time for either team to play an absolute clunker, one whose video will be burned immediately after the final buzzer. Strap yourselves in for a long one, folks, and enjoy it.