Oh baby!

For those of you who have heard the legendary CBC hockey announcer, Bob Cole, you know that he probably would have said his signature phrase "Oh baby!" when the Canes scored to eliminate the Bruins on Thursday night. 

In case you missed the goal, here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUj5NWhUc4o

To see Scott Walker's emotion in a post-game interview with Tripp Tracy said it all. And wasn't it poetic justice that Walker was the hero in this one, after all of the criticism that was levied on him over the Aaron Ward incident. Paul Maurice had made it clear going into this one that the Canes "would leave it all on the ice". They would play their hearts out and give it all they had. An that's exactly what they did! If you're a Canes fan, you had to be proud of this team, no matter what the outcome. They worked hard from the opening face-off, doing the little things to keep it close.

If not for Milan Lucic's goal off a bad bounce for Cam Ward on a Marc Savard rap-around shot in the third period, this might not have even gone into overtime. The Canes were that good. They killed four penalties effectively, hardly giving the Bruins a decent look. Not surprising though, their penalty killing ranked third in the league from January on. Coincidentally, that is when the penalty killing unit was handed over to Tom Rowe and Tom Barasso. What a job they've done! The Canes reduced the number of quality chances to vitually nothing by repeatedly getting in passing lanes, deflecting passes, and blocking shots. 

Once again, the coaching staff has to be lauded for smart line-up decisions. Moving Walker up with Staal and Whitney gave the line more down-low pressure, creating a number of quality chances for this line. Before the goal from Walker, both Staal on a wild slapper from the slot, and Whitney on a wicked shot that hit Thomas in the mask, created near misses in the Bruin's end. The insertion of Frank Kaberle into the line-up also paid dividends as Franky picked up an assist on the goal from Samsonov, and generally was very effective, particularly in his own zone, making smart outlet passes to clear the blue-line on a number of occasions.

I was pleased to see valuable contributions from Rod Brind'Amour, a nice deflection on the first goal, and Ray Whitney, whose blast from the right side created the juicy rebound for Scott Walker to bury. Eric Staal played an outstanding game and never let up for a minute. Many a shift, I saw Staal head to the bench dog-tired, putting all he had into it. Great to see!  Sammy played an inspired game and his linemates contributed as well, Jokinen making a huge shot-block in the third period and Ruutu wearing down the Bruins with thunderous hits. Chad Larose was, well, Chad Larose, giving 110% every time he was on the ice. Chad has really grown on me in these play-offs. Not only has he chipped in with much-needed offence, he has been phenominal killing penalties, and is the most dependable Cane forward at getting the puck out of his zone, especially when the Canes are under assault.

The defence was rock solid, again. They are hugely under-rated in this league and perhaps now they will start to get some notice. Joni Pitkanen was enormous on the blue, playing thirty-five-and-a-half minutes on this night, was plus two, and making a perfect pass to Sergei Samsonov for the go-ahead goal. At one point, it seemed he was on the ice for about five minutes straight! You have to like Dennis Seidenberg. He played over thirty minutes, also was a plus two, made a super shot for Roddy to deflect for the all-important first goal and then made a game-saving shot block on David Krejci in the third. Overall, he blocked six shots on the night.  And the tandem of Joe Corvo and Tim Gleason did what they have done through-out these play-offs, play effectively in all key situations and lead by example. I've talked about Gleason before. He just keeps getting better. What was it we were told about Corvo when we acquired him from Ottawa last year, that he was a one-dimensional player (offence) and was a major liability defensively? Well, they were right about one thing. Offensively, he is among the best in the NHL. But where they got it wrong was about his defensive abilities. In this "new" NHL, a player with the elite skill level of Joe Corvo is a very valuable comodity. I'm sure the Ottawa Senators must be crying in their beer on this one now.

I don't know what you could say about Cam Ward that hasn't already been said this season. He is simply an elite goaltender, among the best in the league. And have you watched any of his interviews recently? He presents himself extremely well. He is cool, well thought-out, and shows a humility that is refreshing. No wonder the players rally around him.

You know I'm still kind of in-shock from Thursday night's outcome. To think the Canes could first, go into New Jersey's home rink and defeat them in game seven was one thing. But to suggest they would do it again, in game seven against the Bruins, is just outright amazing. Even Canes broadcaster Tripp Tracy was "astounded" at the outcome. It's not that the Canes weren't deserving, because they definitely earned the right to win both of these series. For some reason, I just expected it to go a different way. I guess there are hockey gods after all.

So, what next?  Well, as Cam Ward was saying about the upcoming Pittsburgh series, "this series will be tougher." Sure, they have Crosby and Malkin leading the way and stopping them is a tall order. But the Canes have a decided edge over the Penguins on defence and goaltending and, if Eric Staal continues to play the way he has been playing, you have to like the Canes chances. 

Down the stretch, these were the two hottest teams in the NHL. They have continued that outstanding play into the play-offs. Both Paul Maurice and Dan Bylsma have prepared their teams well. This should be an outstanding series. 

I can't wait for the opening face-off.  "Oh baby!"