web analytics
Apr
29

Shock At The Rock

canes The Carolina Hurricanes, facing a 1-goal deficit entering the final two minutes of the decisive Game 7 last night somehow scored not one, but two goals against the greatest goaltender of all-time, instantly ending the New Jersey Devils’ season. According to the Puck Daddy, New Jersey was 39-1-1 when leading in the third period this season. Teams with 3rd period leads in the playoffs this season were 29-0, until last night.

Improbable? yes. But two of these shocker endings in one week? Absolutely stunning. Toronto and Montreal fans will go decades upon decades without witnessing a series like this one. These are the kinds of endings that leave long-lasting effects on the two involved. “Devastated†doesn’t even come close to describing how the Devils and the fans in the Prudential Center are feeling right now. Their franchise, coaches and players, will forever be changed. We saw it happen after the “Miracle in Molsonâ€, however the “Shock At The Rockâ€, more stunning and more important in its timing, will have more of an impact.

Reports say that about 800 people met the team at the airport last night. I can vouch for the effects of NCSU’s run in 1983, that events like this change people and change places. I started one of the first UNC basketball websites, complete with full stats and points per possession analysis for each game of the last 14 years , and I have to say that this morning I feel more euphoric and more complete as a fan than I did just a few weeks ago when the Tar Heels won it all.

  • joe

    Dana!Dana!Dana!…..Euphoria in re Canes supercedes Heels!!!!!! Don’t lose you head over the moment…remember your roots.

  • lee

    heels, please. Cane’s are a real team! Awesome game, awesome series

  • Thomas

    Hey Joe, take it easy. This is a pro team, not a college team (noone is saying the Heels are taking a back seat to anyone, so, calm down). My wife went to UNC and loves the Heels, but she even said, this team has a tremendous flare for dramatics and she LOVES the sport of hockey (I had friends calling me from all over the country last night, even they said, the Canes are an exciting team to watch and that was one of the best games they have watched in all of sports).

    Go Canes and Caniacs!!!!!!!!!!

  • Tom Woolf

    “two goals against the greatest goaltender of all-time”???

    How about you add “one of” to “the greatest”. There are a lot of Dryden, Hasek, Roy, etc. fans who will discount your views completely when you make definitive statements like that with no ability to prove the point. (Yes, Brodeur did just tie the record for the most playoff shutouts, but even that record can’t be a solid basis of “the greatest” since many more playoff games can be played each year than when, let’s say, Ken Dryden played.)

    But it was a heckuva 100 seconds to watch!

  • Dana

    One additional comment to my UNC comment: My favorite UNC game/moment of all time was not the ’93 championship, not the ’95 or ’99 championships. It was the 1989 game vs. Oklahoma.

    Brodeur has more career wins than anyone else. Tough to argue against that.

  • Doug

    I can’t get YouTube at work so I can’t see the above video, but go to 850thebuzz.com/blog and look for the video in the “Jokinen and Staal Stun Devils” posting. About the 4:00 mark of the video, Staal scores the winner. Keep your eyes on the woman with the red sleeves just behind Staal as he celebrates.

  • Kevin

    Doug,

    If you sit down low on the end like that, right behind the glass, you can barely watch the game. About all you can do is hit the glass and show your middle fingers.

    Here’s some classic pics: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/multi/april-28-2009-canes-4-devils-3

    Check out the fans in pictures 34 and 35. Hi-larious.

  • MikeB

    “Brodeur has more career wins than anyone else. Tough to argue against that.”

    Dana, NJ had the best defense in the league for years with their neutral zone trap to the point of it causing a change in the rules. Great team defense in hockey makes a great goalie a legendary goalie. Cy Young isn’t the best pitcher of all time simply because he has the most wins nor Nolan Ryan the best because he has the most strikeouts.

    Brodeur is an all-timer but he’s definitely not the best of all-time. Staying in the modern era, Roy and Hasek were definitely better than Brodeur.

  • David

    Last year v. Kansas in the FF was my favorite UNC moment of all time.

    My buddies in St. Louis are starting to be jealous over our short but prolific hockey success (in NC).

  • lee

    MikeB – seriously? Fact- Brodeur is one of the greatest of all time. And he proved that in this series alone. If it wasn’t for Brodeur guarding NJ’s net, they devils would have no chance. There were some games he was THE defense. If the NJ zone was so great, then game 5 wouldn’t have played out like it did with Brodeur blocking 44something shots.

  • http://www.jonathanhawkins.net Jonathan Hawkins

    “According to the Puck Daddy, New Jersey was 39-1-1 when leading in the third period this season.”

    Know who that 1 regulation loss was against? That’s right, Carolina. Trailing 1-0 with less than 8 minutes to go, Sergei Samsonov tied it up and then Tuomo Ruutu won it.

  • MikeB

    lee, go back and read what I wrote. My only point was that Brodeur is not THE best ever. His career was elevated by 15 years of great team defense, via the neutral zone trap and an incredible defensive core staying together for years (Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Jamie Langenbrunner, Bobby Holik, and Colin White just to name a few). Brodeur is outstanding and a first ballot Hall of Famer, for sure, but he is not the greatest of all time (he’s not even top five).

  • GD

    Tom Woolf: MANY sites are calling him the greatest goalie in NHL history. I can’t tell you how many different sources I have read today with writers from all over stating that…

  • Subway Scoundrel

    With 3 minutes left, I was cussing Babchuk for giving up the puck all game (cussed him the whole game) and had accepted the last. Then the “Shock at the Rock”. I was jumping up and down and going crazy.

    Got to love this. !!!!!

  • MikeB

    GD, I also saw numerous sports writers list Emmitt Smith as the greatest running back of all time (NFL career records for total yards, 100+ games, and rushing TD’s), but make that claim in a room full of knowledgeable sports fans/writers and people would laugh. Brodeur is Emmitt Smith,

    There is simply no way you can put Brodeur ahead of Sawchuck, Dryden, Hasek, Hall, Roy, Plante, or Tretiak. THen come ones you can argue, like Durnan, Fuhr, Belfour, Esposito, etc.

  • http://www.danamccall.com Dana

    Just reflecting a little more… I watch about 200 hours of sports a year (live and on TV). Since the Stanley Cup win, I’ve watched about 600 hours of sports, and two of the top ten sporting moments of my life have come in the last week.

    Couple that with seeing the Blue Angels on Sunday, and I am just overrun with adrenaline. I think I’m going to sleep about 12 hours tonight 😉

Posted by Dana on April 29, 2009 | Tags: Sports . | ( 16 ) Comments

top

-->

© 2011 gogoraleigh. All Rights Reserved. Theme adapted from original by: Dezinerfolio