If a goal is scored, and nobody's around to see it...

Forgive me for the riddle of a beginning, because the sound is obviously still made, and the goal is still good. The Stanley Cup Finals between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers began tonight in the rowdy city of Raleigh, North Carolina.

The display was amazing. Professional sports at its finest. After missing the first period, I turned the television on with the second period beginning and Edmonton up one to nothing. After a myriad of chances were steered aside by Edmonton goaltender Dwayne Roloson, the Oilers buried a couple of chances of their own (one of which was a penalty shot goal scored by Conn Smythe candidate Chris Pronger) to go up 3-0 with just over three and a half minutes to go. The game seemed like business as usual for a team that had won 8 of its last 9 hockey games: Show up in a hostile environment, set the physical tone early, go ahead and shut the crowd up. However, this game showed why NHL hockey can still matter in American sports.

Less than a minute after Ethan Moreau gave Edmonton a three goal lead, Carolina's captain Rod Brind'Amour punched in a rebound to make it 3-1 after 40 minutes of hockey. Carolina continued that momentum early in the third period, as trade deadline acquisition Doug Weight set up Ray Whitney perfectly for a one timer at the left wing faceoff circle just a minute forty in to cut the lead to one. Whitney scored again on a power play to tie it up. Just over five minutes into the third period, a game Edmonton dominated was tied. Five minutes later, Justin Williams beats Dwayne Roloson shorthanded on a breakaway, putting Carolina up 4-3 with about 10 minutes remaining. Undeterred, the resilient Oilers fired a barage of shots at rookie goalie Cam Ward. The youngster was equal to the task and made some spectacular saves he had no business making. The Oilers eventually would tie the game off a phenomenal play by Ales Hemsky.

Then came the scary moment, as Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson left the game after a collision knocked the net off its moorings. The man who has helped key the Oilers improbable run will miss the rest of the series with a knee injury. In came Ty Conklin, a man who played a mere 18 games in the regular season. The last of which came on April 17th, in the most important game of his life. Stanley Cup Finals game 1, tied at 4, with less than 7 minutes remaining.

The game appeared destined for overtime with less than a minute left and neither team taking any chances offensively. The Hurricanes dumped the puck into the Edmonton zone, and Conklin came out on what looked to be a routine play. A routine play, until he got crossed up with defenseman Jason Smith, passed the puck off his stick, and it came right in front of an empty net for Brind'Amour, who easily tapped it in with over 30 seconds to go. Carolina seemed to be on cruise control for a backdoor game 1 win, but with the way this game went, anything was possible. So of course, Edmonton put on a flurry of shots in the last half minute with a tremendous opportunity that Cam Ward miraculously denied with 3.8 seconds remaining. The Hurricanes held on for a 5-4 game 1 victory. This was a showcase game for the new, post-lockout National Hockey League. As exciting a Stanley Cup Finals game as anyone could have asked for.

*sigh* But then I realize that this exciting contest took place on OLN. The Outdoor Life Network (soon to become Versus). What really grinds my gears is the total lack of coverage it has been getting in the mainstream media. ESPN has their random segments of Barry Melrose on Sportscenter, and that is about it. OLN is becoming more available to cable plans, so that is a start. Also, the network has done a great job of promoting what it sees as its baby and ticket to larger scale competition with ESPN.

However, with the championship matchup ranking as somewhere between sexy and deplorable, very few people in America (outside of the Raleigh area) are actually aware that the NHL Playoffs are still going on. And that is a shame. This sport used to be one of the cult sports in America. It may not have been the NFL or NBA, but following their strike it was at least as appealing as Major League Baseball. After falling ratings, an economic system that was crumbling, a dreadful product highlighted by trap heavy 1-0 games, a lockout that cost us the entire 2004-2005 season proved to be the final straw to both the casual fan and the mainstream media.

It didn't used to be this way. I was one of the few people outside of the competing cities who actually witnessed the spectacle that was Game 1 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals and have watched even after my Red Wings got eliminated. The game is as entertaining as ever. We now have a system where teams in these regions can compete for a championship instead of being dead weight to the wealthier teams. It's amazing. That game was one that could have drawn the casual observer back into the game. The series will switch to network television (NBC) from game 3 on. Unfortunately, given what happened to Dwayne Roloson tonight, this series could get really lopsided really fast unless Ty Conklin gets his head together and keeps Edmonton competitive. Tonight's game could be the lone compelling game of the series if he doesn't. It's hard to believe, but the actual immediate future of the NHL may rest on the pads of Ty Conklin keeping the underdog Oilers fighting. Whatever happens the rest of the series, take note right now. The NHL is back as an entertaining product. Watch these games, even if your team isn't there. These are two fantastic hockey teams who have paid their dues in so many ways. For if a goal is scored, and nobody is around to see it, the league will die. Watch the games, watch the goals, and embrace hockey at its finest.

Stanley Cup Finals Schedule
Game 1: CAR wins 5-4
Game 2: Wednesday, June 7th, 8 PM, OLN
Game 3: Saturday, June 10th, 8 PM, NBC
Game 4: Monday, June 12th, 8 PM, NBC
*Game 5: Wednesday, June 14th, 8 PM, NBC
*Game 6: Saturday, June 17th, 8 PM, NBC
*Game 7: Monday, June 19th, 8 PM, NBC

*if necessary

To give your opinion, post your comment here or e-mail me at chad.twaro@gmail.com

Another Postseason Failure

The Detroit Pistons franchise best 64-18 record was rendered meaningless at the hands of the Miami Heat last night. A season that saw the Pistons begin the season 38-6 ended much earlier than anyone anticipated when the playoffs began. The killer part for them is that, if you look at the games, the better team in fact won. Something Pistons fans reluctantly will admit.

So when a team fails like this (and make no mistake, this season was a failure for the Pistons), the number one question is why? Well I decided to take a closer look into it and came up with an array of explanations:

1. Joe Dumars suspect draft record catching up to the team.

Joe Dumars is the best executive in the NBA hands down. He created a team in the image of the Bad Boys that won consecutive championships in 1989 and 1990. This new version he created featured team basketball and defense in an era where superstars and offense dominates. With Dumars at the helm, the Pistons have appeared in the last four Eastern Conference Finals, won a championship in 2004, came within a quarter of repeating in 2005, and won a franchise best 64 games this season.

However, there is an area where Joe Dumars has consistently fallen short. Drafting young players to replenish the roster. If you look at the Pistons playoff roster, only two of those players were drafted by the Pistons. Furthermore, only Tayshaun Prince was able to contribute. The most noteworthy example is the loaded draft class of 2003, where the Pistons struck gold by having the 2nd overall pick (courtesy of the Vancouver Grizzlies). Lebron James went off the board first to Cleveland, and Dumars rolled the dice on 7-foot Serbian Darko Milicic. The next three picks: Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Bosh and Wade are already all-stars while Anthony is well on his way. While Milicic was traded to Orlando this season. The Pistons also had a late first round pick in this draft that they used on Argentina phenom Carlos Delfino. Three years later, Delfino looks as lost as ever in the Association. While players such as Josh Howard and Leandro Barbosa are making huge contributions to their playoff teams out west. Here are Joe Dumars' draft picks since 2000 when he entered the front office (followed by their career per game stats):

2000: 1st (14th)-Mateen Cleeves (3.6 pts, 1.9 ast, 38.9% fg, 4 teams)
2nd (44th)-Brian Cardinal (7.2 pts, 3.2 reb, 41.9% fg, 4 teams)

2001: 1st (9th)-Rodney White (7.1 pts, 2.2 reb, 42.4% fg, currently not on an NBA roster)
2nd (37th)-Mehmet Okur (12.1 pts, 6.9 reb, 45.8% fg, signed away by Utah)

2002: 1st (23rd)-Tayshaun Prince (11.6 pts, 4.2 reb, 2.3 ast, 46.9% fg)

2003: 1st (2nd)-Darko Milicic (3.0 pts, 1.9 reb, 42.9% fg, traded to Orlando)
1st (25th)-Carlos Delfino (3.6 pts, 1.7 reb, 38.8% fg)
2nd (58th)-Andreas Gliniadakis (no NBA stats accumulated)

2004: 2nd (54th)-Rickey Paulding (no NBA stats accumulated)

2005: 1st (28th)-Jason Maxiell (2.3 pts, 1.1 reb, 6.0 min)
2nd (56th)-Amir Johnson (6.7 pts, 1.3 reb, 3 games)
2nd (60th) Alex Acker (1.8 pts, 1.0 reb, 5 games)

Two of Joe's first rounders are not on an NBA roster (Cleeves and White), one is a bona fide NBA starter in Tayshaun Prince, while the jury is still out on Maxiell and Delfino is running out of time. I won't pick apart the 2nd rounds because those draft picks are extremely hit or miss (Michael Redd was actually taken the pick before Cardinal in 2000 while Mehmet Okur was a big part of the Pistons 2004 championship). The draft is the best way to replenish a veteran roster and add some athleticism as well as depth., Joe has failed to do that and it really showed in the series against Cleveland and especially against Miami.

2. This team has played more playoff games than anyone else the past five years.

Certainly true as the game 6 elimination loss to Miami was Detroit's 83rd playoff game since 2003. That's over a full season of playoff games for a roster that hasn't changed a whole lot in that timespan. Certainly playing this many more games annually catches up to any team, especially one with as little depth beyond the starting five as the Pistons (see above). Miami was the fresher team in this series and thoroughly dominated the whole way through. This is at least part of the reason why the Pistons seemed to play without the energy we are accustomed to seeing, specifically the starting five who logged so many minutes during the regular season. This team essentially played seven players throughout the entire playoffs (which surprised me because I thought Maurice Evans and Tony Delk would play larger roles). The team just didn't have the edge we became accustomed to seeing them with. I also think the team got flat out arrogant after they got the league's best record and felt they could sleepwalk through games in the playoffs and win them the way they could in the regular season. It obviously was not the case.

3. Flip Saunders is not the right man for this job.

A notion that is somewhat unfair, but also somewhat justified. Flip is a well respected coach throughout the NBA and what he did in Minnesota given their lack of any talent around Kevin Garnett is remarkable. In 1997, Flip began his first full season as the T'Wolves head coach, a franchise that had never won more than 29 games in a season. In that first season, Minnesota went 40-42 and made the playoffs for the first time ever. The team would continue from there as Flip led the Wolves to the playoffs eight consecutive seasons. However, the Timberwolves would not make it past the first round in the first seven postseasons, and that was where Saunders drew criticism for not being a playoff coach (in spite of never having the better team than the team he lost to).

In 2004, he had his best season ever as Minnesota won 58 games and were the top seed in the Western Conference. He guided them to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to the Lakers in 6 games (who would later lose in the NBA Finals to the Pistons). To this day, I truly believe that if Sam Cassell was healthy, Minnesota would have gone to the NBA Finals and played a much better series against the Pistons. Things turned sour in 2005 and Flip was the fall guy and got fired midway through the season (instead of incompetent team president Kevin McHale).

After the drama between the Pistons and Larry Brown concluded with Larry Brown leaving (or getting fired), Joe Dumars jumped at the chance to bring in Flip Saunders. A man who is considered an offensive genius, to coach a team that had been to the NBA Finals two years in a row. A dream opportunity for Flip? Certainly. But with that also came the pressure that anything less than a championship would be a failure. The regular season was a honeymoon as the team went 64-18, and seemed a lock to win the championship. After rolling through Milwaukee in five games and going up 2-0 on the Cavaliers in round two, something happened. The offense that looked so unstoppable hit a road block. After breaking 90 points in each of the first seven playoff games (100 five times), they only did it twice in the team's last 11 playoff contests. The players (particularly Ben Wallace) criticized his offense first philosophy and Saunders could not seem to make the proper adjustments when the team hit that dry spell. Does he have responsibility for this? Absolutely, but he also can't make shots for them and he allowed Chauncey Billups freedom to run the offense himself all year. When Billups struggled, so did the team, and he never got his rhythm back.

The biggest thing that Flip Saunders is accountable for is the refusal to develop some of the Pistons younger players this season. Rick Carlisle and Larry Brown feuded with Dumars over the issue, and Flip Saunders said he would play Darko Milicic and Carlos Delfino to give them a chance to develop. He never did, and with Ben Wallace likely going elsewhere in the summer, Darko's size and potential would be welcome, but he is now in Orlando. Traded in a deal that was supposed to allow the Pistons to re-sign Wallace (which I don't see happening given Wallace's diminishing skills, age, and asking price). This shortcoming is much more damaging than Saunders' playoff record, which now sits at 27-38 for his career. That's because as much as Pistons fans began to loathe Darko Milicic, the fact is that he's not even 21 years old yet and the fans are going to miss him next year. He will never live up to being drafted ahead of the players he was drafted before, but he showed in Orlando that he has all the makings of a solid NBA center.

Flip Saunders is a good coach. However, he will not be able to live down the shortcomings of this postseason unless he wins a championship. That task will become more difficult in the coming seasons with a roster that is beginning to show their age, with Ben Wallace's contract being up, and with no legitimate young players waiting in the wings (though Amir Johnson is an intriguing player). The coach can do all he can to prepare for games and make adjustments on the fly (and Flip did come up short in those areas this postseason), but it's ultimately the players who win you ballgames.

To offer any feedback, post your comments here or e-mail chad.twaro@gmail.com