Tag Archives: hockey

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King’s Ransom

Peter Berg’s King’s Ransom made sense as the first of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries – an accomplished filmmaker examining one of the era’s defining stories.  It is actually amazing to think that it has been twenty years since Wayne Gretzky got dealt.  It is even more amazing to ponder that he could have been.  How can the Bulls deal Michael Jordan – and not just Michael Jordan, but the Jordan AFTER winning the titles?  THAT was the magnitude of Edmonton dealing Wayne Gretzky.  That he was traded to Los Angeles added a spin – Gretzky as a true hockey ambassador, while Edmonton had to lose their boy, to a warm weather team!

Berg’s film spends equal time discussing the machinations that got the trade to happen – as well as examining the impact in California, turning the Kings from a local afterthought into THE glam entry in the NHL map.  But we start at the beginning – the idea of Gretzky and the Oilers changing how hockey was conceived.  Their 198x average of 5.9 goals per game is unfathomable.  Wayne Gretzky had seasons of 217 points, 92 goals … 92 goals is nearly twice what the elite guys score now.  The Oilers were a high flying act, but they won 5 titles – the substance was there with the sizzle.

Edmonton is also a small city.  Edmonton is a very small market.  At some point, Gretzky wanted to make a bit more money while Edmonton’s ownership became cash strapped.  He became more valuable as a trade asset to their franchise than as a player.  As such – what we get is them finding a deal for Gretzky and asking him to help.  Berg’s film is very strong here, assembling the documentary footage, showing what a phenomenon Gretzky was.  We see what a state event his marriage was (to some chick from the Police Academy movies), and how big a deal he was.  When Gretzky wipes tears away when announcing his move – the tears were real.

However, the hole in Berg’s movie is Gretzky himself.  I am not sure why Gretzky agreed to the deal.  He wipes the tears away.  In fact, he has chances to reverse things and stay with Edmonton once the trade rumors start.  However, he accedes.  Why did he do it?  In a lot of ways, Gretzky’s view of things is the angle that is the most fascinating – but Berg cannot really unpack that.  This is compounded by the fact that Berg and Gretzky are friends, and Berg interviews Gretzky on camera.  Alas, we just get some vague answers from Gretzky.  It does not prevent the story from being good documentary, but it prevents the film from rising up further.

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NBA Conference Finals Preview and Picks

Well, the Bostonian in me would be remiss not to touch base about the Bruins historic collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers – the scribes have written, what more is there to say?  Let’s move on.

The Celtics, coming off of their shocking upset of the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Orlando Magic, who have sliced through the playoffs with ferocious intent so far in the Eastern Conference Finals.  Meanwhile, in the West, the Suns and Lakers come off of a week rest after each swept through the Spurs and Jazz respectively.  If one remember’s Steve Nash’s face after the win over the Spurs, clearly the Suns needed the rest:

Ewwwww

So, how will the series go?  Given my knowledge of the Cavs-Celtics series, take these at your own peril.

Suns v Lakers … power rankings wise this is #3 vs #7.  The Suns have been outstanding this postseason with their sweep and their more one sided than it looked win over the Blazers.  The Lakers had to work harder, but are coming off of a high level sweep of the Jazz.  If we just look at the 5 man lineups, the Lakers size is a real problem for the Suns.  Normally, when we think Suns, we expect the team to be soft on the inside and not really care.  With these guys, that is different.  They won the Spurs series basically on the glass with their earnestness – outrebounding the Spurs in Game 2 severely on the offensive side.  The Suns with their #19 defense, will never be considered a juggernaut – but they try harder this year – and have a mean streak with Jared Dudley and Louis Amundsen, that previous vintages don’t have.  However, all of this still leaves the Lakers at an advantage down low, even with the Suns offering more length than the Jazz could.

However, the Suns are a brilliant offensive team, #1 in the league again.  Amare Stoudemire could and should still give the Lakers problems, and the Nash is as good as ever.  While the Lakers can match up small using Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher or Jordan Farmar most likely will have to guard somebody, whether it be Nash, Jason Richardson or Barbosa.  There is an edge there.  Also the Suns’ bench has been outstanding – they must flog the Lakers generally woeful second unit to optimize their probability of winning.  But the probability is significant.  This shapes up as a classic: Lakers in 7

Magic v Celtics: The Magic finished the season #1 in the Power Rankings, while the Celtics finished #10.  That said the Celtics have gotten healthier and played a brilliant series to beat Cleveland.  But this is another kettle of fish.  The Magic are coming off of an epic 27-3 stretch with a high scoring margin over those 30 games than the Celtics had ALL SEASON.  They might not win it all, but they have clearly been the best team in the league since 2010 started.  The Magic have the league’s best defense anchored by Dwight Howard, offer matchup issues with Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter, and Jameer Nelson playing a PG so well that the Magic’s “if only he were healthy last year” misgiving is legitimate.  Rondo should not be able to flog this matchup like he did against Cleveland.  Also the Celtics beat Cleveland because Kevin Garnett emerged as the team’s second best player again, and dominated Antawn Jamison.  Rashard Lewis is a tougher test – lacking the wussiness and the inability to dribble fashioned by Antawn.  The Magic also offer unmatched depth with Ryan Anderson, Jason Williams, JJ Redick and Marcin Gortat – the Celtics bench, a weakness all season, will be tested again.  The Celtics can win this, but it is on Rondo and Pierce to rise up in the toughest scenario to date.  Magic in 5

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The Substantial Achievement on Ice

United State 5, Canada 3

OK, OK, OK … so it’s no 1980 … not even close.  These were NHL’ers and not spunky amateurs.  This was the friendly rivals to the North, America’s Hat, not the evil Red Army.  This is a preliminary round event, not a key final weekend clash.  On the other hand – it is Canada, and when you looked at the lines they rolled out there, their fans have a right to think that a medal is a birthright.  After all, they comprise a majority of the NHL demographically.  Kids grow up wanting to be Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux – or at least having those sorts of mullets.  So while this is no 1980, it is 1996 to a degree.

Then of course, we had the World Cup of Hockey, which DID feature professionals playing for national pride and glory and stuff.  Like that one, Canada of course was the 800 pound gorilla with its Gretzky squad.  The US had some successful NHL players, but really were only contending because of having a superior netminder.  In 1996, it was Mike Richter, while this year it is Ryan Miller.  Brian Burke, the GM of the United States side in these games, took a major step away from the team that rose onto the world stage in 1996 – turning the team almost completely over to its youth.  Players like Jack Johnson, Bobby Ryan, and Zach Parisse were put to the fore (the US is the youngest team in the tournament) with key veterans (Chris Drury, Jamie Langenbrunner the captain) supplying some presence.  So, still – this was quite the upset.

Like many upsets, the Americans needed some luck early – and it came in the form of a Brian Rafalski goal 41 seconds into the proceedings.  This got the Americans to play from in front, and that was invaluable.  Given the sudden thunder Canada brought as the game moved on – and their amazing 45-23 shots on goal advantage, that the US was never in danger of losing contact was big.  The team could play a smarter, counter attack based game.  The Americans got a lot of shot blocking and defense ahead of Miller – and whenever Canada scored, the US would return quickly.  And then there was Miller – 42 saves, many difficult, outplayed Martin Brodeur badly.  The team has counted on him to be their best player, and he was.  Canada might need to look elsewhere for goaltending inspiration – Marc-Andre Fleury makes sense, even if he is their #3 goalie right now.