Our pic of the day comes courtesy of East Rutherford where Blazers NBA Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy and GM Kevin Pritchard react to winning the NBA draft lottery last night. The Blazers, who won 32 games (one less than the Knicks folks) had their slim 5.3 percent chance come through to pull an upset over the NBA’s worst Memphis and the Celtics:

With a core which includes the gifted Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph, Jarrett Jack, Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster, the Blazers certainly have a young nucleus in place where selecting either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant could just vault them back into the playoffs.

The question is what will Pritchard do with the moody Randolph. The former Spartan is a talented player who averaged a double double (23.6 PPG, 10.1 RPG) in 68 games. He turns 26 later this summer. Does he fit in or will Portland finally trade him? He’s a solid scorer and rebounder but is injury prone and has had his reputation questioned.

Maybe the Blazers go in a different direction here. Winning the No.1 overall pick gives them many options. Will some team make them a can’t miss offer to move down that puts them into serious contention sooner than people expect like ESPN’s Jon Barry asserted to the shock of Stephen A. Smith at a roundtable discussion?

You never can tell. Especially with a franchise which once passed on Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton to select Sam Bowie second overall over two decades ago.

With the Grizzlies and Celtics upset (if you saw Jerry West’s face and Boston’s Lottery Party reaction you know- not even kidding here! ), the Sonics moved up to No.2 while the Hawks were third which was good news for them because had they dropped further, that pick would’ve gone to Phoenix (gulp). Instead, the Hawks boast both the 3rd and 11th overall selections. They desperately need a point guard. So figure Mike Conley, Jr. to fit the bill there with one of those picks.

Memphis, Boston and Milwaukee (NBA’s three worst teams) slipped to fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

So, does anyone want to try to caption this pic of a demoralized West. Just look at it and his reaction:

“It’s about as disappointing as you could ever hope for. It’s like pitching pennies. It’s grossly unfair to the team, but I’ve said it before, I don’t think the lottery is fair. I never liked it. I don’t think it’s a good system at all, period.”

What a bitter old man. As if he didn’t have a lot of luck when he built those championship Laker teams. You chose to work in Memphis when you could’ve ridden out to the sunset. Take it like a man or just do everyone a favor and get out!

Does anyone want to put a real caption on that sad photo? Any takers?!?!?!?!?!

The Bulls had the rights to the Knicks’ pick as part of the Eddy Curry deal. The good news for lifetime man Isiah Thomas is that Chicago wound up with the ninth pick. They should still get a good player (Joakim Noah???) but at least it’s not the dreaded worst case scenario of either Oden or Durant.

Here’s the full lottery results with the draft in NYC set for June 28th:
1.Portland

2.Seattle

3.Atlanta

4.Memphis

5.Boston

6.Milwaukee

7.Minnesota

8.Charlotte

9.Chicago (from Knicks)

10.Sacramento

11.Atlanta (from Indiana)

12.Philadelphia

13.New Orleans

14.L.A. Clippers

One quick thought on Vince Carter’s demand for a three-year $60 million extension:

No freaking way the Nets and Rod Thorn do that. As the NY Post’s Peter Vecsey pointed out in a Tuesday column, the 30 year-old small forward is slowing down which also might explain the more predictable bail outs in Vince’s game against smaller defenders. He’s still explosive but just not as consistent. And as I’ve pointed out here before, the former Air Canada has never been a clutch playoff performer.

It’s time for the Nets to move on. If that means signing and trading the superstar, then they should do it. They can definitely find a taker and get something back for him.

Tony Parker’s playoff career high 14 assists along with 17 points helped the Spurs slice and dice the Jazz to the tune of a 105-96 Game 2 home victory to take a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final.

For the Jazz, it’s the second time this postseason they’re in an 0-2 hole. During the first round, they trailed the Rockets by the same deficit before rallying to take the series in seven games. However, as point guard Deron Williams pointed out afterwards, being down two to the championship calibre Spurs is a lot different:

“We still have a chance. But I think it’s a lot worse to be down 2-0 to the Spurs than the Rockets. They have championships and guys who know how to win. They’re also a much better road team.”

The splendid soph understands how difficult a task it now becomes for his team to comeback. They’ll need to be more consistent when they return home to Salt Lake for a must win Game 3 Saturday night.

One thing they need to do is get off to a better start. The Jazz never led during last night’s game and trailed by as much as 22 in the second half as Parker and the Spurs’ outside shooters along with Tim Duncan (team high 26 along with 14 boards, 5 blocks and 4 assists) toyed with them to set a franchise mark by making 13 three’s.

After a close opening quarter in which Utah trailed by just two, they had another brutal second getting outscored 32-17 to be put in a huge hole down 17 at the half. A little friendly advice for Jerry Sloan’s young club: Falling behind by that much against a battle tested team such as San Antonio is a recipe for disaster.

It’s just too much to climb out of. The same thing happened in Game 1 which was almost an identical margin of defeat (8 pts instead of 9). By the time they started playing better at both ends to cut the deficit to only seven in the final quarter, it was just a little too much to overcome. Twice, Parker got into the lane and setup Bruce Bowen for uncontested treys from each corner. The defensive stopper connected on three-of-four from that distance for all nine of his points.

If you are letting Bowen beat you, you got problems. Nothing against the gritty defender who works as hard as anyone. But when you’re facing the Big Three of Parker, Duncan and Manu Ginobili who also added 17 points (three from downtown) along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals, you better not allow a secondary part to hurt you.

Aside from that, savvy perimeter veteran Michael Finley also knocked down three trifectas adding 11 points in 23 minutes along with six rebounds. Even unheralded center Fabricio Oberto followed a surprising 14 in Game 1 with another 14 on an efficient six-of-seven from the field- also grabbing seven boards. If he’s scoring in double digits, Utah has no chance to win this series.

So much must change for the Jazz to get back in it. Aside from dynamic duo Williams and Carlos Boozer, who combined for 59 points, 19 rebounds and 13 assists, they just aren’t getting enough support thus far. As promised Andrei Kirilenko was better Tuesday night finishing 5-of-11 from the field plus five-of-seven from the line to contribute 15 points and three assists. But with only three rebounds and a block in 37 minutes, it was un-Drago like. The versatile small forward needs to do better in that area on the interior to help turn the series around.

If Kirilenko improved, then center Mehmet Okur was once again a non-factor finishing just 4-of-13 for 11 points. He did step out and make two three’s but unless he’s a consistent scoring threat inside and outside, the Jazz don’t have a reliable third option.

Derek Fisher, who was so good against the Warriors had a dreadful night making just one-of-nine field goals and misfiring on all four three’s for only three points in 30 minutes.

Another problem for the Jazz is their lack of bench scoring. Against Golden State, it was a polar opposite. Last night, they got outscored 28-8 with both Ginobili (17) and three-point specialist Brent Barry (9 on all treys) getting more than the trio of Paul Millsap (4), Gordan Giricek (2) and Matt Harpring (2). Only Harpring got major minutes (27) as compared to 18 total for the other two. Problem was the former Georgia Tech two sport star was ineffective.

If Sloan is only going to use eight in his rotation, then they better perform at a high level because Gregg Popovich has the luxury of bringing Ginobili, Barry and Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry off his bench which makes it a potent weapon because all those guys have experience and are used to playing big minutes. The San Antonio coach also hasn’t been afraid to use backup point guard Jacques Vaughn to spell Parker and even has given time to center Francisco Elson throughout the Spring which means he can rest Duncan when needed.

It also means Popovich isn’t afraid to go 10 deep which means his key players should be fresher in crunch time. That spells trouble for the Jazz.

They’ll now have three days off to regroup before Saturday. We’ll see what Sloan comes up with to make this interesting. The good news is they usually play great on their own home court. They have some of the best fans in the NBA who make a lot of noise and support their Jazz very well. You know they’ll be behind their team trying to rally them.

We’ll see what happens!

Final score: 3 4

Anaheim wins series 4-2 to advance to second Stanley Cup Final in four years.

For two periods, the Ducks seemed completely in control up three goals against the Red Wings and on their way to a second Stanley Cup Final appearance in four years (three seasons).

But the Wings had other ideas and made Anaheim and the entire Pond building sweat out a wild ending till that final buzzer sounded with fireworks, a relieved exhale from Duck players and the celebratory handshake.

If Detroit had little to offer the first 40 in which they were overwhelmed on the scoreboard 3-0 and outshot 26-13, the top seed wouldn’t roll over in the final 20 making the Ducks earn victory.

They would pepper Jean-Sebastien Giguere with 16 shots and launch a desperate all out attack to try to make up two three-goal deficits. After Henrik Zetterberg struck on a nice redirect finish of a Chris Chelios pass to cut it to 3-1 at 3:15, their comeback temporarily stalled 2:39 later when Selke candidate Sammi Pahlsson scored a huge goal finishing off three-on-two by backhanding home a Rob Niedermayer rebound past a sprawled out Dominik Hasek to restore a three-goal lead with 14:06 left.

From that point, it was hang on for dear life. The Wings got shots on Giguere from everywhere by pinching their D and moving the puck quickly up the ice. But it would be the power play which gave them new life. With Todd Marchant in the box, it took Pavel Datsyuk only 14 seconds to deflect home a Nick Lidstrom shot pass and slice the deficit to two with 9:52 remaining.

One shot. One power play goal. A sharp contrast to how their first four went in which they managed just one shot the first two periods.
With time running out on their season, Detroit got another chance when Ryan Getzlaf went to the box for cross checking with 3:13 to go. If you thought Datsyuk’s last tally was quick, his next one was even faster. This time, the Wings’ No.1 pivot took a Henrik Zetterberg feed at the doorstep and whipped a wrist shot past Giguere for his eighth- using just nine seconds to suddenly cut the margin to one with a lengthy 3:04 still on the clock.
The way Detroit was coming now, that final 184 seconds must’ve felt like an eternity to Anaheim. When Travis Moen was whistled for a hook 21 ticks later, it gave Detroit a third consecutive man-advantage to try and tie it with 2:52 left.

They came oh so close when Datsyuk’s rebound attempt of a Mikael Samuelsson shot narrowly missed going in the open side.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock waited until there were 10 seconds left in the PP to pull Hasek for an extra attacker. Should the ex-Ducks coach who led them to the 2003 Final have done it earlier? Debatable.

What we do know is Tomas Holmstrom came very close to tying it in front on one of those deflections. Anaheim couldn’t get the puck out a couple of times making for a frantic conclusion. Had Detroit hit the net, maybe they score. There certainly was enough traffic in front.

The last chance came when Todd Bertuzzi missed one wide with 31 seconds left. Anaheim would clear the zone. Detroit would make one last dump to Giguere’s left. But Chris Pronger was positioned perfectly waiting for it and flipped the puck high in the air. Detroit was unable to keep it in and get off a last shot as time wound down touching off a celebration on one side of the ice while dejection set in at the other bench.

One can only wonder where this sort of desperation was from Detroit the first two stanzas. They fell behind a goal 3:51 in when Rob Niedermayer got the back of his skate on a Pronger point shot for a shorthanded goal.

The Ducks were much better in this game while the Wings were on their collective heels getting outshot 14-7. If not for Hasek, it would’ve been worse.

Anaheim continued to pepper Hasek in the second, who did all he could to give his team every opportunity to respond. All night, the big line of Getzlaf, Dustin Penner and Corey Perry were dangerous. A dominant shift by the young trio resulted in the second goal from Perry. On a delayed penalty call, Perry snuck in from the right side to find a Francois Beauchemin rebound and stuff it home at 9:52.

The Wings finally started to pick it up getting a couple of chances on Giguere but he was equal to the task. After killing off an Anaheim PP, the Wings had a terrible change resulting in a costly too many men on the ice bench minor.

It took Getzlaf 29 seconds to convert by getting to a rebound Todd Marchant dug out before Hasek could freeze it for a huge PPG which made it 3-0 with 87 seconds left in the period.

At that point, it looked like it would be an easy Game 6 clincher for the Ducks. Little did they know how close Detroit would come to forcing sudden death. They can breathe easier and start preparing for Eastern champion Ottawa. The Stanley Cup Final won’t get underway until next Monday at The Pond on Versus.

Can anyone explain why there’s such a long layoff? Good old NHL. We can’t.

Some quick hits:

1.Pronger is going to his second consecutive Stanley Cup Final with two different teams (Edm, Ana). He’s not the only player though as Ottawa backup goalie Martin Gerber represented Cup champ Carolina as they went on to defeat Pronger’s Oilers in seven games.

2.After getting blown out 5-0 in Game 3 on home ice, the No.2 seeded Ducks rallied to win the next three games to eliminate the higher seeded Wings. The comeback will be remembered for how close they were to going down 3-2 before Scott Niedermayer’s late PPG tied Game 5 preempting Teemu Selanne’s OT heroics. Selanne will finally reach a Cup Final in his 15th season. He notched an assist tonight to extend his point streak to three games (2-4-6).
3.Getzlaf and Perry were terrific tonight and contributed two goals and a helper. They were flying all game. Their size and speed gave Detroit fits. Look for their line along with rookie Penner to be a factor against their next opponent Ottawa.

4.Datsyuk’s late heroics gave his team a chance. He nearly completed the natural hat trick on a third PP but might’ve grazed the post on his stuff attempt. Before this postseason, the top center who signed a big extension (7 years, $46.9 million) was never a big playoff performer. After inking his new rich deal, the Russian took some big steps this Spring by scoring eight goals and adding eight assists for 16 points in 18 games.

5.If Datsyuk was good, then Detroit captain Lidstrom was his usual self this Spring. In defeat, the four-time Norris winner added an assist to increase his point total to 18 (4-14-18)- most among all defensemen. The model of consistency on the blueline might’ve come up a little short but as usual logged a plethora of minutes. In defeat tonight, he finished minus-two in 30:13 with four giveaways. Maybe finally the 37 year-old anchor of the D wore down. Especially without Mathieu Schneider. He still teamed well with Chelios and did a sound job.

6.Though shots finished even at 29 due to Detroit’s strong third, the Ducks did a great job getting in the path of shots- blocking 17. Not only did the Wings have 17 blocked, but another 17 missed the net, meaning 34 shots never reached Giguere. Detroit wasn’t too bad in this area either blocking 11 including a game high five from ultimate warrior Chelios. Scott Niedermayer paced the Ducks with four. A little comparison of shots which didn’t get through:

Detroit- 34 (17 MS, 17 blocked)
Anaheim- 20 (9 MS, 11 blocked)
7.In a losing effort, the Wings were strong on draws winning 34-of-58 including a solid 16-11 from Datsyuk in the faceoff circle. Defensive specialist Pahlsson took many of those draws finishing 13-for-29.

8.Giguere was outstanding in this series and rebounded well from a tough Game 5 in which he was pulled after allowing three. He finished with 26 saves tonight while counterpart Hasek turned aside 25 of 29. Giggy was just a little better and sparked his team to victory.

9.Detroit won the physical battle outhitting Anaheim by two (23-21). Thirteen players registered a hit with no player getting more than three. Meanwhile, the Ducks had 12 players make the scoresheet with Pahlsson finishing with a game high five.

10.There will be a new Stanley Cup winner between two Expansion teams. The Senators reentered the league in 1992 after a 58-year hiatus. According to legend, the Original Sens franchise existed from 1893-1934 winning 10 Stanley Cups including one in 1927 by defeating Boston 2-0-2. Most of their championships came prior to the NHL assuming complete control of Cup competition. Now, the new Sens will try to add their name to the Stanley Cup when they take on the Ducks.

Originally named the Mighty Ducks for Disney’s hit movie featuring Emilio Estevez, they entered the league a year later in 1993. After a disappointing decade, they made a miraculous run as a lower seed to the Final in 2003 before falling to the Devils in seven games. A year after bringing in Niedermayer to captain the team and coming within a series win of another final, they traded for Pronger and now are back playing for the Cup against Ottawa in what promises to be a good series.
Only one will emerge as a new champion.

Our three stars:

3rd star- Pavel Datsyuk (2 PPG, 4 SOG, 16-11 on draws in 24:05 TOI)

2nd star- Ryan Getzlaf (goal, assist, +2 rating in 21:30)

1st star- Jean-Sebastien Giguere (26 saves, 13 in final period)

Series MVP: Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Honorable mention: Teemu Selanne

The great players step up when needed most. In crunch time. Even on an off night in which he was kept silent by the Cavs’ D, Pistons’ guard Chauncey Billups never let that get to him in helping lead his team to a Game 1 three-point victory, 79-76 over Cleveland at the Palace.

Billups scored 10 of his 13 points in the final quarter to help his team pull out the hard fought win and take a 1-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final.

When his team needed him most, he stepped up and made some big shots by draining two three’s and completing a three-point play in a tightly played final 12 minutes.

The former 2004 Finals MVP made the biggest shot of the night with under two minutes left by knocking down an uncontested trey from the top of the key to put Detroit back ahead 78-76.

Cleveland had three chances to tie or win the game but LeBron James and Co. failed to get it done and steal home court when it was there for the taking. They would get the final two possessions but couldn’t capitalize.

First, James drove the lane, drew a double and fed big man Zydrunas Ilgauskas for a wide open 17-footer. But unlike most of the game where the center had the magic touch from that distance for a team high 22 on 9-of-17 shooting, he was short off the rim. The ball rebounded back out to James and coach Mike Brown called timeout to diagram a final play.

Truthfully, it wasn’t a bad play at all. Brown substituted long distance shooter and Game 6 hero Donyell Marshall for Ilgauskas. The recent 34th birthday celebrant entered the game having scored only two points on 1-of-3 from the field in nine minutes. Yet there he was on the floor. If you know the game, you knew he what the play was. So I wasn’t surprised when LeBron drove the lane and then found the ex-Uconn star in the right corner for an open three. But his shot fell off the rim and caromed out before Billups recovered it near mid-court and was fouled with 2.8 left.

After making the first for a three-point lead, he missed the second but it didn’t matter much as the Cavs had burned all their timeouts leaving just a desperation 75-foot heave from Anderson “Carlito AKA Sideshow Bob” Varejao which never had a chance.

And so the Pistons overcame a poor first half to pull out the big ‘W.’

To be perfectly honest, much like what TNT’s Kenny Smith said, “Cleveland should’ve won tonight.”

That they didn’t probably doesn’t bode well for the rest of the series. As Smith, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley concluded alongside Ernie Johnson, “That was probably the worst Detroit’s going to play.”

Which means Cleveland should feel like they missed a golden opportunity here. Sure. They can conclude as Ilgauskas did during a postgame interview with Craig Sager that “they were in a close game and had a chance to win and would take it.”

But those are the ones a road team has to win if they want to take home court at this stage.

Now to the TNT analysts’ criticism of LeBron’s decision on that final play. It’s hard to disagree because he’s supposed to be the best player on the floor. And if you watched enough replays, then you know that he had a step on solid defender Tayshaun Prince at the free throw line. The double also came late and as Rasheed Wallace (15 pts, 12 boards, game high 7 blocks) informed Magic and Co., he wasn’t coming over to help out but rather to get the rebound. When James gets a head of steam in full flight, he’s tough to stop because he’s so strong. He should’ve just gone for the lay-up and tried to draw the foul. Not once did the superstar get to the line all night. Instead, he passed out to Marshall, who missed on his chance to be the hero.

I’m only going to ask this once. But who would Cavs’ fans rather have with the ball in that big spot. LeBron or an ice cold Marshall who just got up off the bench??? Case closed!

Detroit was lucky to be only down six at the half. They were lackluster at the offensive end and were outworked by Cleveland on the offensive glass. Particularly Varejao who pulled down five of his eight rebounds in Detroit’s end and either got putbacks or setup teammates. The sparkplug finished with 13 on 6-of-9 shooting along with two steals in 26 minutes.

The Pistons were able to hang around thanks to Rip Hamilton and Chris Webber who combined for almost half their points.

After scoring nine in the first half, Hamilton was even better getting 15 of his game high 24 (11-of-21 FG) in the second half. The great mid-ranger shooter even dialed long distance twice. The ex-Uconn star made some difficult shots and also added seven assists and two steals in 43 minutes.

They got an inspired game from Wallace at both ends. He did a solid job doubling LeBron and also was terrific at protecting the basket rejecting a couple of James’ drives on his way to seven blocks. Aside from the D, he didn’t rely just on his perimeter game instead making six of his seven shots on the interior. He did make one big trey also in the final quarter but what else would you expect? He turned it up.

The Pistons didn’t get the usual scoring from top defender Prince who finished with just nine but the team oriented small forward still contributed mightily by playing solid D on LeBron while pulling down six boards and handing out nine assists including the big dish for Billups’ winner.

Flip Saunders lengthened his rotation by playing veteran big man Dale Davis. He contributed five points and three rebounds in five solid minutes. Aside from Davis, usual rotation bigs Antonio McDyess (2 pts, 4 rebs) and Jason Maxiell (1 offensive rebound and assist to setup Billups trey with 5+ left) gave the Detroit coach usual time.

For Cleveland, Larry Hughes shot 4-of-13 finishing with 13 and seven boards but continued to struggle from the perimeter misfiring on all three long range attempts. The Cavaliers need the versatile guard to make a couple of outside shots to keep Detroit’s defense honest.

They’ll also need more than the career playoff low 10 LeBron gave them. While it’s true that the unselfish superstar also grabbed 10 rebounds and dropped nine dimes just missing out on a triple double while also adding four steals, he needs to sometimes take over in these close games. Fifteen shots just isn’t enough. He needs to be more aggressive.
LeBron doesn’t have a great supporting cast. In crunch time, he has to make the big plays. That sometimes means getting the big buckets. We’ll see if he makes an adjustment in Game 2 Thursday night.

Later tonight, the Jazz will take on the Spurs in Game 2 looking to even the best-of-seven Western Conference Final series. They shouldn’t be as nervous as they looked in Game 1 when they fell 108-100. Look for Carlos Boozer to be better and expect another great game from super soph Deron Williams.

Utah was defended well by the championship calibre Spurs and the Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili came through by combining for 71 points, 14 rebounds and 21 assists.

Williams (34, 7 and 9) and Boozer (20 and 12) will need more from bigs Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur who combined for just 17 points, 11 boards and one block.

After being taken to task by coach Jerry Sloan, expect the Jazz to come out more focused tonight.

Final score: 2 1 (OT)

Anaheim leads series 3-2.

This was about the most unlikely victory the Ducks could’ve gotten. It was highway robbery at its finest as Anaheim stole one which was within Detroit’s grasp but slipped away.

If you’re a Detroit fan, you’ve seen this act before. Game 2 anyone? How about Game 5? The Wings easily could’ve wrapped this series up already. Instead, they’re one game away from elimination and now must win Game 6 at The Pond Tuesday night to force a seventh game back in Hockey Town.

I’m fairly certain Wings’ supporters are sick of Jean-Sebastien Giguere stoning their team and stealing games from them. Especially in sudden death. Like 2003 wasn’t enough? The Anaheim netminder did it again making big stop after big stop to give his team a chance in a game they had no business being in- finishing with an outstanding 36 saves to back stop his team within a win of their second Stanley Cup Final appearance in four years (three seasons).

I was equally as amazed as NBC’s Brett Hull and Ray Ferraro that the Ducks won this game with such a poor effort. You just can’t play that way and expect to win at this time of year.

Yet because of the 2003 Conn Smythe winner, Anaheim was allowed to get away with it. They can thank Giguere by treating him to an expensive steak dinner after how well he performed. Sure, the lone goal he gave up to Detroit defenseman Andreas Lilja 6:13 into the second period was one he’d love to have back. Off a Dan Cleary feed, Lilja’s point shot snuck past his glove to put Giggy’s Ducks behind.

However, aside from that, he more than made up for it with some clutch stops including several from point blank range which could’ve put the game out of reach. After a fairly even opening stanza in which Detroit had three more shots (11-8), they peppered Giguere with 15 but only managed to beat him once on the aforementioned odd-man rush. Meanwhile, the Ducks got just three shots on Dominik Hasek hardly testing him.

If there was one thing they did well in a one-sided second, it was kill penalties. The Ducks lost their discipline going to the box four times after falling down a goal. But they repeatedly killled them off to hang around entering the third.

The Wings should’ve put this game away. No doubt about it. They blew two more PP opportunities including one which left just 2:19 on the clock for Anaheim to work with.

Aside from that, they did catch a bit of bad luck when Nick Lidstrom’s shot off a giveaway hit the right post behind Giguere with 9:01 remaining. That would’ve been huge give how well they were playing. From a physical standpoint, they were much better than their opponents.

Anaheim also wasn’t showing that they were capable of generating the type of chance it was going to take to get it tied. That’s when they caught a break when Pavel Datsyuk was sent to the box for interference with 1:47 left. Ducks coach Randy Carlyle wisely pulled his goalie for the extra attacker giving them a six-on-four.

The strategy paid dividends when Detroit penalty killer Johan Franzen failed to clear the puck which allowed a hustling Chris Pronger (booed all day) to keep it in. Ironically enough, it was Franzen that Giguere denied twice on an earlier power play to keep the deficit one for his two biggest saves.
Usually when you don’t clear it out, you get burned. That’s exactly what happened. Eventually, a three-on-one was created down low with Teemu Selanne feeding Scott Niedermayer in the slot. The Anaheim captain quickly settled the puck down and fired a wrister which changed direction going off a diving Lidstrom’s stick and then fluttered past a helpless Hasek to miraculously tie it with 47.3 seconds to go.

Just like that, a game Detroit dominated was going to overtime. In it, they had their chances. Valtteri Filppula just missed from about 25 feet when his wrister sailed wide. They also got their seventh power play when Travis Moen hooked down Danny Markov. But the Wings couldn’t come up with the goods. Tomas Holmstrom was setup nicely in the slot but his wrister which might’ve been ticketed for the back of the net was blocked by a sliding Duck. It was their best chance.

The Wings would lose ironically when Lilja had a dreadful turnover in front of his own net leading directly to an unassisted tally for Selanne for his second career OT winner. The Detroit defenseman circled his net but felt pressure from a backchecking Selanne and Andy McDonald. As he attempted his pass, the backcheck pressure from McDonald caused him to lose the puck giving the Finnish Flash a one-on-one with Hasek. Selanne faked forehand and patiently waited for the Dominator to go down before roofing a backhand for the winner at 11:57.

It touched off a nice celebration as a happy Selanne was mobbed by teammates. He’s always been a great finisher and one of our favorite players. Now the original Winnipeg Jet is a game away from his first Stanley Cup appearance. The 15-year veteran sniper who’s tallied 540 career goals during the regular season has waited a long time to get to this point. It would be nice to see him get there and have a shot at a championship.

Here was the OT hero’s reaction:

“Everything happened so quickly. You don’t have enough time to plan anything. But I’ve been practicing that move my whole life. I knew I had to get it up. He [Hasek] goes down and covers up everything down low.”

He didn’t miss. Now Detroit has their backs to the wall. We’ll see how they respond Tuesday night.

Some quick hits:

1.It was a tough game for Franzen because he played so well for most of it registering a game high eight shots in 22:00. Had he scored on a nifty redirect or on a rebound with a few minutes left, he would’ve been a hero. Instead, one error cost his team. The same also could be said for his teammate Lilja. That’s the breaks.

2.It’s hard to fault Hasek on either of the goals he allowed. One was deflected in by his own teammate to tie it while the other was off a brutal turnover which allowed one of the game’s most dangerous goalscorers to take advantage surprising the netminder. Maybe the 42 year-old six-time Vezina winner could’ve waited out Selanne a little more before sprawling out. It was a weird game for the goalie because he wasn’t all that busy and looked on his way to a routine shutout. Then in the blink of an eye, it changed. The pressure’s on for Game Six.

3.The Wings were the more physical team as it went on outhitting the Ducks 27-22. Markov and savvy vet Chris Chelios (45 years young) each paced them with four while Anaheim checking center Sammi Pahlsson led everyone with five.

4.Cleary was pretty effective in the loss for Detroit setting up Lilja’s goal and playing extremely well finishing plus-one in 22:33.

5.Todd Bertuzzi struggled to distinguish himself in this game. The big power forward even got out of the way of a Mikael Samuelsson point shot allowing Giguere to see it. After a couple of good games in a row in which he scored twice and setup another goal, he was ineffective and received just 15 shifts (12:01) getting only one shot. He’ll need a more inspired effort in the elimination game.
6.Henrik Zetterberg was held off the scoresheet despite six SOG. He and linemate Datsyuk were pretty good in this game but couldn’t get one by Giguere even though they combined for 10 shots and some solid scoring chances.

7.After a quiet first three games, Selanne has exploded for five points (2-3-5) in the last two Anaheim wins. They needed their best finisher to pick it up and he has come through.

8.The most effective line for the Ducks was the Kid Line of Dustin Penner, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Getzlaf was very effective down low on the cycle creating a few opportunities along with Perry. They’ve been the team’s most consistent line all series.

Our three stars:

3rd star- Scott Niedermayer (tying PPG with 47.3 left, +1 in 35:13)
2nd star- Teemu Selanne (OT winner, assist)
1st star- Jean-Sebastien Giguere (36 saves and improved to 12-1 in playoff overtime-best in NHL history)

We’ll just call this quotes of the day, which come courtesy of some disgruntled Yankees on and off the field after yet another loss (10-7) to the Mets putting them five under .500 and 10.5 behind the Red Sox:

Yankee CF Johnny “DL” Damon: “It’s definitely embarrassing. We definitely know that we are better than we’ve showed.“

Skipper “Clueless” Joe Torre: “We’re going to turn it around. I wish I could give you a date. Until we straighten out what we need to straighten out, we can’t worry about the standings.“

GM Brian Ca$hman: “We’re not out of the race. As ugly as it looks right now, I’m never going to let that enter my mind.”

As a buddy once quoted, “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.”

Or as former WWE manager Slick would say, “The party’s ov—-ahhhh!”

It’s been over for quite some time. This Yankee team is so embarrassing that I’ve stopped caring. I no longer can watch them. They’re a disgrace to the uniform invoking memories of the early 90’s teams with players such as Mel Hall, Jesse Barfield, Mike Witt, Steve Farr, Luis Polonia, Rich Monteleone, Matt Nokes, Bob Geren, Tim Leary, etc.

Those teams played to a 3/4 empty Stadium sometimes. At least they had an excuse. Ah. How we’ve come full circle. Just wait until the spoiled wagoners who only jumped on because of all the winning start demanding refunds. Here’s a prediction: The Stadium will be half empty by August.
That Roger Clemens introduction in the Boss’ box was about as cheesy as it got. As if the 44 year-old Rocket is going to come in on his horse and save this pathetic team.

They should just admit failure and sell off the garbage such as Bobby Abreu, Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Myers. Heck. Even Mike Mussina can just get off the mound already.
There’s no way anyone can convince me that Torre shouldn’t be fired. He’s lost his mind and is just cashing a check. As for Cashman, he’ll probably take the fall for this. But ironically, some of the deals he made to restock the farm should make the team strong again in the future.

Of course, this team has sustained a ridiculous amount of injuries. Even yesterday’s winner Tom Glavine couldn’t believe their luck after Darrell Rasner went down yet again and will require surgery after taking a line drive in the leg.

Sometimes, luck changes. The good teams have it. Just look at the Mets. They get every break these days. Damion Easley has turned into a power hitter. Carlos Beltran didn’t check his swing in the eighth. Endy Chavez was a scrub until he got to Shea l