A Whole Bunch of Jerks: An NHL Eastern Conference Finals Preview
Whether it’s a collection of jerks or a one-man jerk brigade, the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals will feature two teams with inherently different stories.
Be sure to also check out The Intermission’s Western Conference Preview between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues..
One might contest that in the lead up to this Eastern Conference Finals series between the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes, the product OFF the ice has been just as relevant to that ON the ice. Thematically, we’re dealing with a whole bunch of jerks all over the place here.
To lead off with the Carolina Hurricanes, their “Bunch of Jerks” identity was born back in February, when Don Cherry, the outspoken and relentless “Godfather” of the National Hockey League, blasted the both the players for their participation in some very elaborate and choreographed end-of-game celebrations, and management for allowing it all to take place. It was an organizational onslaught that saw Cherry ultimately lay claim to the notion that these bunch of jerks were ruining the game and forcing the erosion of a sizable chunk of hockey’s traditional ethical framework, including their “front-running” fans. He even appeared to be personally insulted that the Canes rookie head coach — and good ol’ Canadian boy — Rod Brind’Amour, could let such tomfoolery take place.
C’mon Don! We’re all just trying to have a little fun here.
Of course, as soon as this “moral malpractice” became public and meme-worthy knowledge over the depths of the internet (with plenty of assistance from the Hurricanes Twitter account), it took on a complete life of it’s own. It has become such a cultural hockey phenomenon to the point where, win or lose, the 2018–19 Carolina Hurricanes season has been, and will be completely be, defined by it.
Again, a real bunch of jerks. And jerks like to have fun.
On the other side of the ice, the Boston Bruins are led by one presidential-sized jerk in Brad Marchand, who continues to impose his best Dennis the Menace impression on the entire league. Erratic behavior, cheap shots masked as “toughness” and solidifying the role of the ultimate antagonist — all prime elements that make up Marchand’s profile — have been once again on display in these very playoffs. Whether or not any of the other Bruins can have the same judgement cast upon them is rather irrelevant, as Marchand’s gigantic jerk shadow looms over them. In fact, one could argue that given his lengthy history of being problematic, he might be a bigger jerk than the entire Hurricanes organization.
Regardless, this jerk-filled series is set to commence this evening in Boston, where they’ll actually PLAY some hockey, so let’s talk some puck.
The Carolina Hurricanes, similar to their unlikely run all the way to the Stanley Cup in 2006, are the Cinderella of these playoffs. But not in the sense that they’re just squeaking by. In the opening round, the team knocked off the defending champion Washington Capitals in a long series, which saw them capture a grueling, double-overtime Game 7 in the Caps building, behind perennial playoff juggernaut Justin Williams.
In the next round, and perhaps equally as shocking, the Canes swept the upstart New York Islanders, outscoring them by a total margin of 13 to 5 over the quick four games. The Isles won three of four against Carolina in the regular season, but that hardly mattered in the NHL’s second season. After blanking them in Game 1, the second game of the series saw the Canes facing a shut out themselves until the third period, where they abruptly reversed their fortunes and netted two quick ones (only 48 seconds apart) in the third period to escape with two victories on opposing ice. The next two games were both 5–2 shellackings to close out the series.
The Bruins had to spend slightly more energy in getting to this point in the postseason. They battled the Maple Leafs back and forth in a lengthy, very physical series in which the road team won four of the seven. Next they had to distinguish a hot Columbus Blue Jackets team in a series that featured two overtime and four one-goal games.
Interestingly, each of these teams have excelled at both ends of the ice. Offensively, only Vegas (eliminated in the first round) averaged more goals per game (3.57) than either Carolina (3.09) or Boston (3.08), who’ve had extended runs. The Bruins produced through a red-hot power-play, notching 10 goals on 35 opportunities en route to a playoff-leading 28.6%. And like a well-oiled machine should operate, the B’s top line of Patrice Bergeron (4), Brad Marchand (1) and David Pastrnak (1) tallied six of that total. Carolina was a completely different story as they wasted many of their extra-man advantages, netting only four goals in 38 chances (10.5% and 14th among the 16 playoff teams). But hell, they were certainly effective at extra strength with four players (Teuvo Teravainen, Warren Foegele, Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho) each compiling 9 points.
Goaltending is where the two teams get really intriguing, particularly because of the circumstances in which each side has reached the third round of this postseason. In Boston, Tuukka Rask is undoubtedly their “guy” in net. Having started all 13 games, he leads all postseason netminders with a .938% Save Percentage and is second in Goals Against Average at 2.02. The B’s have relied as much on Rask as they have on their often-potent offense. And as history has frequently proven to us time and again, the most sure-fire element that a team can posses in making that run all the way to Lord Stanley’s Cup is (all together now)… a HOT goaltender! You establish your guy between the pipes and you ride him, hard.
The Hurricanes on the other hand (and not by choice), have been forced into a less “traditional” approach to having elite results in net. Petr Mrazek, once a castaway of my beloved Red Wings, was given the opportunity to lead this team into the playoffs. While playing solid, but not fantastic, he was in place as the Canes knocked out the defending champions. However, in Game 2 of the Islanders series, Mrazek suffered an injury that would see him miss the rest of the series. Enter 35-year old Curtis McElhinney, the oldest goaltender in NHL history to make his first career playoff start. McElhinney completely shut down the Isles (3–0, 1.56 GAA, .947 SV% over the three games) and shut up the hockey universe for the rest of the short-lived series. Between the two, all indications point to Mrazek being back in goal to start this upcoming series against the Bruins.
The key to victory in this series might ultimately lie in what each team does with the man advantage. Carolina simply has to stuff the Bruins’ incredible power-play. And what’s the most effective, but obvious way to defend extra-attacker? Stay out of the damn box! Given the Canes poor penalty killing (75%, tied for 12th) abilities, they can’t be taking dumb penalties (they’re currently the 4th most penalized team in the playoffs) or they’ll get buried quick. With the teams being very evenly matched in most areas (though the B’s do have a major advantage in net), if Boston can continue to convert at this rate on the power-play, or if Carolina can drastically improve theirs during the series, therein might lie the determining factor.
If the series ends up being determined by the number of jerks or level of jerkiness, well, Carolina has a roster full of them. Remember, as Don Cherry eluded to, though not in his own words… “the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.” Even, when it comes to jerks. While Carolina can dominate what happens before and after the games, the Bruins have more talent, depth and goaltending for those 60 minutes in between.
Prediction: Bruins in six games.
