04/24/24
April 21, 2007
Ever seen a one-legged Penguin? Yes, you have: Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby reveals he played the final two weeks of the NHL season and the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a broken left foot. Crosby made the disclosure after having to bow out of the upcoming World Championships in Moscow.
From watching that series, I've noticed that whenever the Flames are down early or by as much as they were today they tend to play dirty. Hooks and slashes all over the place pretty much. And today's play from them was just ridiculous. Act like professionals.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:04 PM on April 21, 2007
From Yahoo's recap of the Calgary game. "It was really about getting some fights going at that point to keep our energy up and carry some anger into the next game," Iginla said with several new stitches over his left eye. "We're not going away." If throwing cheap shots is what your teams needs to get pumped up that is really, really sad. On topic, this just shows how incredible Crosby is to play at that level even with a broken foot.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:44 PM on April 21, 2007
And I thought Crosby was amazing before, that's absolutely ridiculous. Being able to keep playing at the top of his game on one good foot is insane. Considering if I broke my left foot, I'd probably not move off the couch for a week and go around on crutches for a month, and I wouldn't be anywhere near a hockey rink. Wow.
posted by boredom_08 at 09:49 PM on April 21, 2007
Being able to keep playing at the top of his game on one good foot is insane. What if he wasn't at the top of his game b/c of the foot, and still scored 5 points in the series? Now that is scary.
posted by brainofdtrain at 11:20 PM on April 21, 2007
While it's pretty impressive for Crosby to have done this, similar things happen regularly in the playoffs -- you just tend not to hear as much about it with non-superstar players. During the Wings' successful 2002 Stanley Cup runs (either 1998 or 2002), Yzerman basically played the entire playoffs -- four series -- with a right knee that was more or less bone on bone (an injury that later required a procedure the following offseason that involved cutting off part of either the femur or tibula to realign the knee and ease the pressure on the joint). And yes, the Flames are a bunch of thugs (no bias showing through there, though).
posted by holden at 07:51 AM on April 22, 2007
I'm not a huge fan of releasing this information. It has a ting of excuse to it. Crosby played very well. He scored some big goals and was generally the best player on the ice when out there. Broken foot or whatever. Though hurt, he was clearly able to play at a high level - so no excuse necessary. Save it for the biography. Ottawa was simply the better team in pretty much every faccet of the game.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:23 AM on April 22, 2007
Did anyone see Brendan Morrow in last night's Stars/Canucks game? He gets slashed on the back of one knee, skates one-footed off the ice in obvious pain, and heads straight to the Canucks bench to beat on the player who did it. I heart hockey.
posted by rcade at 09:48 AM on April 22, 2007
While it's pretty impressive for Crosby to have done this, similar things happen regularly in the playoffs -- you just tend not to hear as much about it with non-superstar players. Or 19 year-old players. I think that's the significant point here. I also don't think that he was giving it as an excuse for losing the series, but as a reason why he should play for Canada at the World Championship.
posted by grum@work at 09:54 AM on April 22, 2007
Crosby played very well. He scored some big goals and was generally the best player on the ice when out there. Broken foot or whatever. Though hurt, he was clearly able to play at a high level - so no excuse necessary. Save it for the biography. as far as i had heard, it was leaked to the media and crosby just confirmed it, so it's not so much an excuse as it is him telling people the truth.
posted by dfleming at 10:43 AM on April 22, 2007
I also don't think that he was giving it as an excuse for losing the series, but as a reason why he should play for Canada at the World Championship. I agree. He even went out of his way to say that it didn't really bother him the last couple weeks, that it didn't need surgery, that he wouldn't have played if playing could have made it worse, etc. Normally, I agree, this kind of thing just sounds like an excuse. But in this case, it really seems like it only came up because everyone wanted to know why he wasn't going to play in the World Championship. And yes, Weedy, Ottawa totally dominated that series. I really hope that stops. I can't stand that team. Especially Chris Neil.
posted by fabulon7 at 10:44 AM on April 22, 2007
And yes, Weedy, Ottawa totally dominated that series. I really hope that stops. I can't stand that team. Especially Chris Neil. Don't worry, fabulon7. It's the second round of the playoffs, so Ottawa is in line for it's annual choke. And after that comes the annual finger-pointing and blame assignment. My guess? Muckler takes the fall.
posted by grum@work at 10:51 AM on April 22, 2007
Did anyone see Brendan Morrow in last night's Stars/Canucks game? He gets slashed on the back of one knee, skates one-footed off the ice in obvious pain, and heads straight to the Canucks bench to beat on the player who did it. That was hockey at its best. Morrow is a trooper. After a vicious slash, he gets up as quickly as he can. He soon realizes he can't put any weight on his leg. He manages to get a forward motion by jumping on his remaining skate, and glides back towards his bench (the play is still live, he's going for a change). Then the whistle is blown, so he turns towards the Canucks bench, and throws a punch to Burrows who slashed him. If that doesn't inspire the Stars for game 7, I don't know what would. On a side note, I've only seen two Canucks games this year, and in both of those Alex Burrows acted like a dirty coward: slash from the back, elbow to the face. And when it's time to fight, he keeps his helmet and visor on, and throws punches with his gloves on.
posted by qbert72 at 11:27 AM on April 22, 2007
I hope you're right, grum@work, I hope you're right.
posted by fabulon7 at 09:13 PM on April 22, 2007
Definite new respect for Sidney. Another reason that team, if they can keep the nucleus together, is scary as hell for the forseeable future. Or maybe they're the next Ottawa of the late 90's, incredibly skilled but lacking the intangibles to win a championship.
posted by tahoemoj at 04:18 AM on April 23, 2007
Or maybe they're the next Ottawa of the late 90's, incredibly skilled but lacking the intangibles to win a championship. Maybe, but I don't get that vibe from them. Mostly because Crosby - unlike the Alfredssons and Spezzas (of yester-year at least) - plays in the tough areas. Malkin and Staal are also both physical players. When your best players hit, the team tends to follow suit. Ottawa seemed to do more of that this year, but it wasn't like the Pens were playing patty-cake. That and I think unquestionably that Fleury can be a 60-70 start goalie and potential All-Star (which the Sens never had, unless you count Hasek last year who didn't play). Nope. I chalk this defeat up to experience. I think Alfredsson was dead-on when he suggested that the Sens were lucky to play against this team in it's first foray into the playoffs - because next year they look to be double tough.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 11:11 AM on April 23, 2007
Agreed. I wasn't trying to condemn the Pens to a life of playoff failure, just putting one possibility out there. Those kids do play a tough game when it's called for. And if those youngsters continue to develop leadership skills to match their physical gifts, there should be a cup in Pittsburgh very soon.
posted by tahoemoj at 01:44 PM on April 23, 2007
Pretty impressive playing as well as he did with a broken foot. That kid's got some skill...well, ok, duh! Speaking of things pertaining to hockey, anyone watch the end of today's Red Wings - Flames games? That ending was ugly, especially with Jamie McLennan's baseball swing at Johan Franzen. It was as blatant a slash you can get and should get a hefty suspension. And then Iglinia's crosscheck at the end. That team was embarrassed.