Madferret
8-26-05, 9:33 AM
Highly overrated
by Ian Mendes
Sportsnet.ca
While some are quick to criticize the Heatley deal because he's never played a playoff game, they should remember that experience doesn't guarantee success. With Ottawa being the nation's capital, there is never a shortage of current and newsworthy topics that deeply divide the population of this city. Questions such as:
Should Micha?lle Jean be governor general? Are you in favor of decriminalizing marijuana? Will Stephen Harper be Prime Minister?
The questions above have split the city down the middle, but this past week, Ottawa was polarized like never before with a question that actually mattered:
Who won the Hossa-for-Heatley trade?
It's amazing how split the city appears to be on this debate. If you ask 100 Senators fans, I'll guarantee you 50 will tell you it was a great trade and 50 will tell you that John Muckler is out to lunch and dinner.
By now, you have undoubtedly read a plethora of articles saying the Senators may have lost this trade because Dany Heatley is not the player he was two years ago. But there's also a significant percentage of people who believe this trade should not have been made because Heatley has never had a taste of the post-season - and that Ottawa's biggest need was finding a player that was a proven playoff performer.
And that is the point I would like to address in this space.
Critics of the Heatley-for-Hossa trade cite the fact that the gap-toothed kid was usually playing in Europe for Team Canada at the World Championships, while the NHL playoffs took place. How can the Senators pin their hopes, they argue, on a player who has never played a single playoff game?
To answer that question, you need only look at recent post-season history to understand that previous experience in the Stanley Cup playoffs is not a prerequisite for success in the spring.
Jarome Iginla has now established himself as an elite player in the post-season after taking the Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. When you think of Iginla now, you immediately think of the Flames sniper as one of the premier clutch performers in the game. Prior to that playoff run, however, Iginla's post-season resume included exactly the same number of games that Heatley's currently does -- none.
Since Iginla's first full season with the Flames in 1996-97, they have missed the playoff dance in each of Iginla's first seven seasons and yet that seemed to have no effect on his post-season performance in 2004.
Before winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy as post-season MVP in 2004, Brad Richards had never scored a goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Richards was able to overcome his lack of previous experience (11 games - no goals) and produce one of the most memorable individual post-season runs in league history by scoring a record seven game-winning goals en route to the Stanley Cup.
Iginla and Richards, centerpieces of the teams that met in the last Stanley Cup Final, had a grand total of zero combined goals in the playoffs before that season.
We also cannot forget J.S. Giguere's performance during Anaheim's amazing run to the finals in 2003. He set a record by making 63 saves in his first-ever playoff game against Detroit and parlayed that into success that took his team to within one win of the Stanley Cup.
And when you look back at Hossa's playoff career with the Ottawa Senators, he was never a 'game-breaker' at the crucial moment. Two instances come to mind immediately when I think of Hossa in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The first occurred in Game 2 of the Senators second round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2002. Leading the series 1-0, Ottawa had a chance to steal both games at the Air Canada Centre and take a commanding two-game lead in the series. In overtime of that second game, Hossa had a clean breakaway against Curtis Joseph and was denied by the Leafs netminder. Gary Roberts would later win the game with a shot from a face-off in triple overtime, putting the Leafs right back in the series. If Hossa converted on that breakaway, it would have changed the complexion of that series and probably the way most people perceive the Battle of Ontario - which remains very one-sided to date.
The second memory of Hossa comes from Game 7 of the 2003 Eastern Conference Final against New Jersey. With the game tied 2-2 late in the third period, Hossa had a glorious chance to give the Senators the lead. But Martin Brodeur made a brilliant save and moments later, Jeff Freisen ended the Stanley Cup dreams of Senators fans. If Hossa buries that chance, the Senators would likely have advanced to the Stanley Cup finals.
Hossa had his opportunity to be a playoff game-breaker here in Ottawa and did not rise to the challenge when it mattered most. In 51 career playoff games, he scored just 13 goals. Granted, Hossa is still a very young player and might have years of playoff success down the road.
But now it will be Heatley's opportunity to shine for the Senators in the Stanley Cup playoffs - an opportunity he will likely get for the first time in April as the Senators appear a virtual lock to make the post-season. And as Iginla, Richards and Giguere have taught us in the last two playoff years - previous post-season experience can be overrated.
Besides, if such experience really counted for so much, don't you think the Senators would have won a Stanley Cup - or at least beaten the Leafs by now?
Ian Mendes reports from Ottawa for Sportsnet East and Sportsnet Ontario.
I saw Mendes the other day coming out of a Starbucks, I almost asked him where he had parked his DeLorean...f'ing dolt.
by Ian Mendes
Sportsnet.ca
While some are quick to criticize the Heatley deal because he's never played a playoff game, they should remember that experience doesn't guarantee success. With Ottawa being the nation's capital, there is never a shortage of current and newsworthy topics that deeply divide the population of this city. Questions such as:
Should Micha?lle Jean be governor general? Are you in favor of decriminalizing marijuana? Will Stephen Harper be Prime Minister?
The questions above have split the city down the middle, but this past week, Ottawa was polarized like never before with a question that actually mattered:
Who won the Hossa-for-Heatley trade?
It's amazing how split the city appears to be on this debate. If you ask 100 Senators fans, I'll guarantee you 50 will tell you it was a great trade and 50 will tell you that John Muckler is out to lunch and dinner.
By now, you have undoubtedly read a plethora of articles saying the Senators may have lost this trade because Dany Heatley is not the player he was two years ago. But there's also a significant percentage of people who believe this trade should not have been made because Heatley has never had a taste of the post-season - and that Ottawa's biggest need was finding a player that was a proven playoff performer.
And that is the point I would like to address in this space.
Critics of the Heatley-for-Hossa trade cite the fact that the gap-toothed kid was usually playing in Europe for Team Canada at the World Championships, while the NHL playoffs took place. How can the Senators pin their hopes, they argue, on a player who has never played a single playoff game?
To answer that question, you need only look at recent post-season history to understand that previous experience in the Stanley Cup playoffs is not a prerequisite for success in the spring.
Jarome Iginla has now established himself as an elite player in the post-season after taking the Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. When you think of Iginla now, you immediately think of the Flames sniper as one of the premier clutch performers in the game. Prior to that playoff run, however, Iginla's post-season resume included exactly the same number of games that Heatley's currently does -- none.
Since Iginla's first full season with the Flames in 1996-97, they have missed the playoff dance in each of Iginla's first seven seasons and yet that seemed to have no effect on his post-season performance in 2004.
Before winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy as post-season MVP in 2004, Brad Richards had never scored a goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Richards was able to overcome his lack of previous experience (11 games - no goals) and produce one of the most memorable individual post-season runs in league history by scoring a record seven game-winning goals en route to the Stanley Cup.
Iginla and Richards, centerpieces of the teams that met in the last Stanley Cup Final, had a grand total of zero combined goals in the playoffs before that season.
We also cannot forget J.S. Giguere's performance during Anaheim's amazing run to the finals in 2003. He set a record by making 63 saves in his first-ever playoff game against Detroit and parlayed that into success that took his team to within one win of the Stanley Cup.
And when you look back at Hossa's playoff career with the Ottawa Senators, he was never a 'game-breaker' at the crucial moment. Two instances come to mind immediately when I think of Hossa in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The first occurred in Game 2 of the Senators second round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2002. Leading the series 1-0, Ottawa had a chance to steal both games at the Air Canada Centre and take a commanding two-game lead in the series. In overtime of that second game, Hossa had a clean breakaway against Curtis Joseph and was denied by the Leafs netminder. Gary Roberts would later win the game with a shot from a face-off in triple overtime, putting the Leafs right back in the series. If Hossa converted on that breakaway, it would have changed the complexion of that series and probably the way most people perceive the Battle of Ontario - which remains very one-sided to date.
The second memory of Hossa comes from Game 7 of the 2003 Eastern Conference Final against New Jersey. With the game tied 2-2 late in the third period, Hossa had a glorious chance to give the Senators the lead. But Martin Brodeur made a brilliant save and moments later, Jeff Freisen ended the Stanley Cup dreams of Senators fans. If Hossa buries that chance, the Senators would likely have advanced to the Stanley Cup finals.
Hossa had his opportunity to be a playoff game-breaker here in Ottawa and did not rise to the challenge when it mattered most. In 51 career playoff games, he scored just 13 goals. Granted, Hossa is still a very young player and might have years of playoff success down the road.
But now it will be Heatley's opportunity to shine for the Senators in the Stanley Cup playoffs - an opportunity he will likely get for the first time in April as the Senators appear a virtual lock to make the post-season. And as Iginla, Richards and Giguere have taught us in the last two playoff years - previous post-season experience can be overrated.
Besides, if such experience really counted for so much, don't you think the Senators would have won a Stanley Cup - or at least beaten the Leafs by now?
Ian Mendes reports from Ottawa for Sportsnet East and Sportsnet Ontario.
I saw Mendes the other day coming out of a Starbucks, I almost asked him where he had parked his DeLorean...f'ing dolt.