FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - (KRT) - When his Minnesota Wild stormed back from a 3-1 games deficit last month and upset many people's Stanley Cup pick, the Colorado Avalanche, in Game 7, Jacques Lemaire stood on the bench with a smile on his face, tears in his eyes and applauded his players like a proud papa.
So when the Wild rallied again from 3-1 - and two goals down in Game 7 - to knock off the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, Lemaire, the master teacher, could hardly believe it.
When informed the Wild was the only team in NHL history to rally twice from 3-1 deficits in the same playoff, Lemaire's mouth dropped.
"Are you kidding me?" said Lemaire, the Coach of the Year favorite, who has won more Stanley Cup rings than he has fingers (11) as a coach, executive and player. "When we scored the fourth goal there, I was saying: `Look at this. Am I dreaming here? What's happening?' Really, it's hard to imagine what these guys just accomplished."
While few could have predicted the Wild would upset the Avalanche, many expected the Wild to give the Canucks serious problems. That's because the Wild plays Lemaire's trapping system to perfection, and when you're facing a gambling, sometimes careless, think-offense-first team like the Canucks, the Wild's system preys on mistakes.
Few coaches have the ability to persuade players to buy into a system the way Lemaire can. The only way a stingy system like that can work is if everybody hops aboard, and Lemaire has a soothing, almost fatherly way about him. And it says a lot that these players are willing and able to stick with a system that is as hard to play as it is to watch.
Because the Wild players buy into absolutely everything Lemaire says, Canucks General Manager Brian Burke quipped during the semifinals that "they're not a hockey team. They're a cult."
During the season, Lemaire somehow persuaded second-year, 21-year-old emerging superstar Marian Gaborik to sacrifice offense and focus more on defense. Well, in Games 6 and 7, there was Gaborik making potentially game-saving backchecks, hits and consistently playing well without the puck. And by the way, this is a kid who had 11 points in the series.
The Wild is a prime example of what can happen when you choose the right coach for a team. Lemaire commands respect by treating his players professionally, creating a positive atmosphere around the dressing room and being the consummate teacher, obsessed with fundamentals and getting the best out of his players. He believes in them, is patient with them and works with them until they get it right.
In turn, his players exude confidence because of him and their belief in him.
"You just don't second-guess this coach," veteran Cliff Ronning said. "He is respected by his players so much."
Wild defenseman Willie Mitchell describes it this way: "He's a teacher, and we're his students. We're like sponges trying to absorb everything he tells us."
Selke (defensive forward) Trophy candidate Wes Walz added, "He's the glue. He's the guy that makes the decisions around here, and everyone buys into those decisions."
"Twenty-three guys have bought into Lemaire's system," Canucks forward Trent Klatt said. "It's hard to beat a team like that."
Pressed Ducks
The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, led by Mike Babcock's coaching, rarely stray from their system as well, so the Ducks-Wild should be an interesting conference final.
The Ducks know how to play in tight games. They were 24-15 in one-goal games during the regular season after going 13-21 last year. In the playoffs, Anaheim is 9-1 in one-goal games and had played in tied or one-goal games for 752:35 of 820.49.
Retired - again?
Defenseman Robert Svehla told reporters at the World Championships that he has indeed retired and will accept a job as vice president of youth development for his Slovak hometown team of Trencin.
His agent, Rich Winter, faxed the Maple Leafs a letter informing them of Svehla's decision, but of course, the Panthers received a similar fax last June.
Slovakia GM Peter Stastny doesn't seem overly convinced.
"I heard that one last year, too," Stastny said. "I saw the headlines in the (Slovak) newspaper that the world championship was his farewell to hockey. I hope, and actually, I believe in my heart that he will reconsider."
If he doesn't, the Panthers should immediately induct him into their Den of Honor. Arguably the best defenseman in franchise history and definitely the most underappreciated, Svehla has played more games (573) and has more assists (229) than any Panther.
His 61 goals and 290 points are also first among defensemen, and he consistently led them in hits and blocked shots. If Svehla, 34, is done, he ends as the NHL's Iron Man leader at 382 consecutive games.
Scary but true
Sure, Anaheim's Sandis Ozolinsh scored the game winner and series clincher in Game 6 over Dallas with a minute left, but that doesn't mean Mighty Ducks GM Bryan Murray didn't almost have a heart attack when he spotted Ozolinsh pinching in.
"You could just see him going in, and you kind of say, `What are you doing? Don't get caught,"" Murray said. "And then he puts the puck in the net."
Brothers and rivals
Anaheim's Rob Niedermayer and New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer are the first non-teammate brothers to play in the conference finals since Ron (Philadelphia) and Duane (Chicago) Sutter did so in 1989.
Should the Niedermayers meet each other in the Stanley Cup Final, they would be the first non-teammate brothers to do so since Ken Reardon of Montreal and Terry Reardon of Boston in the 1946 Stanley Cup Final.
"Scott, he was into hockey first," Rob said. "I think me, being the younger brother, I just followed along. I think it had a lot to do with our mother. She took a lot of time. She was always there for us. We went and skated on the ponds after school. She took us down to the ice rink at noon hour. I think that was all we really concentrated on growing up, hockey. Small town (Cranbrook, B.C.), that was kind of the only thing to do there."
Scott has twice won a Stanley Cup and even though Rob got to share the Cup with Scott when he brought it home, Rob refused to touch it.
"I guess you don't want to touch it until you get a chance to win it," Rob said.
The brothers are close, although Scott joked, "I leave Rob a message about once every four or five days and then he gets back to me once every couple of months."
Looking at Luc
Wanting to add a veteran to next year's roster, Panthers GM Rick Dudley would be interested in talking with veteran Luc Robitaille, who is being discarded by the Red Wings, after the free-agent period begins July 1.
"Luc Robitaille is a wonderful guy and he would provide a great deal of leadership for our hockey team," Dudley said. "But first of all, I don't know what he costs and secondly, how effective he'd be in our situation.
"But Dave Andreychuk came to the Lightning and was so important to the team that it rejuvenated him. So can that happen again with another guy? Sure, why not? When you're an older player, your stature on a team means everything to you."
Robitaille, 37, who has scored 631 goals in 17 years, is coming off his worst season - 11 goals and 31 points.
Pick and choose
Dudley says he has received some tempting offers for the Panthers' No. 1 pick.
"Teams are coming after us for the first and you know what? If somebody comes hard enough, they might just get it," Dudley said. "We're still leaning toward taking it, but we've had two teams offer us quite good packages for the pick.
"Our theory is this: If we got assets both young and significant, would we entertain it? Sure."
It's been rumored that Boston has offered Sergei Samsonov for the pick, but Dudley says he hasn't spoken with Boston.
Panthers scouting meetings begin Tuesday. The contenders to go No. 1 on June 21 in Nashville are Russian winger Nikolai Zherdev, Czech winger Milan Michalek, Oshawa center Nathan Horton and Peterborough center Eric Staal.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/5833284.htm
So when the Wild rallied again from 3-1 - and two goals down in Game 7 - to knock off the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, Lemaire, the master teacher, could hardly believe it.
When informed the Wild was the only team in NHL history to rally twice from 3-1 deficits in the same playoff, Lemaire's mouth dropped.
"Are you kidding me?" said Lemaire, the Coach of the Year favorite, who has won more Stanley Cup rings than he has fingers (11) as a coach, executive and player. "When we scored the fourth goal there, I was saying: `Look at this. Am I dreaming here? What's happening?' Really, it's hard to imagine what these guys just accomplished."
While few could have predicted the Wild would upset the Avalanche, many expected the Wild to give the Canucks serious problems. That's because the Wild plays Lemaire's trapping system to perfection, and when you're facing a gambling, sometimes careless, think-offense-first team like the Canucks, the Wild's system preys on mistakes.
Few coaches have the ability to persuade players to buy into a system the way Lemaire can. The only way a stingy system like that can work is if everybody hops aboard, and Lemaire has a soothing, almost fatherly way about him. And it says a lot that these players are willing and able to stick with a system that is as hard to play as it is to watch.
Because the Wild players buy into absolutely everything Lemaire says, Canucks General Manager Brian Burke quipped during the semifinals that "they're not a hockey team. They're a cult."
During the season, Lemaire somehow persuaded second-year, 21-year-old emerging superstar Marian Gaborik to sacrifice offense and focus more on defense. Well, in Games 6 and 7, there was Gaborik making potentially game-saving backchecks, hits and consistently playing well without the puck. And by the way, this is a kid who had 11 points in the series.
The Wild is a prime example of what can happen when you choose the right coach for a team. Lemaire commands respect by treating his players professionally, creating a positive atmosphere around the dressing room and being the consummate teacher, obsessed with fundamentals and getting the best out of his players. He believes in them, is patient with them and works with them until they get it right.
In turn, his players exude confidence because of him and their belief in him.
"You just don't second-guess this coach," veteran Cliff Ronning said. "He is respected by his players so much."
Wild defenseman Willie Mitchell describes it this way: "He's a teacher, and we're his students. We're like sponges trying to absorb everything he tells us."
Selke (defensive forward) Trophy candidate Wes Walz added, "He's the glue. He's the guy that makes the decisions around here, and everyone buys into those decisions."
"Twenty-three guys have bought into Lemaire's system," Canucks forward Trent Klatt said. "It's hard to beat a team like that."
Pressed Ducks
The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, led by Mike Babcock's coaching, rarely stray from their system as well, so the Ducks-Wild should be an interesting conference final.
The Ducks know how to play in tight games. They were 24-15 in one-goal games during the regular season after going 13-21 last year. In the playoffs, Anaheim is 9-1 in one-goal games and had played in tied or one-goal games for 752:35 of 820.49.
Retired - again?
Defenseman Robert Svehla told reporters at the World Championships that he has indeed retired and will accept a job as vice president of youth development for his Slovak hometown team of Trencin.
His agent, Rich Winter, faxed the Maple Leafs a letter informing them of Svehla's decision, but of course, the Panthers received a similar fax last June.
Slovakia GM Peter Stastny doesn't seem overly convinced.
"I heard that one last year, too," Stastny said. "I saw the headlines in the (Slovak) newspaper that the world championship was his farewell to hockey. I hope, and actually, I believe in my heart that he will reconsider."
If he doesn't, the Panthers should immediately induct him into their Den of Honor. Arguably the best defenseman in franchise history and definitely the most underappreciated, Svehla has played more games (573) and has more assists (229) than any Panther.
His 61 goals and 290 points are also first among defensemen, and he consistently led them in hits and blocked shots. If Svehla, 34, is done, he ends as the NHL's Iron Man leader at 382 consecutive games.
Scary but true
Sure, Anaheim's Sandis Ozolinsh scored the game winner and series clincher in Game 6 over Dallas with a minute left, but that doesn't mean Mighty Ducks GM Bryan Murray didn't almost have a heart attack when he spotted Ozolinsh pinching in.
"You could just see him going in, and you kind of say, `What are you doing? Don't get caught,"" Murray said. "And then he puts the puck in the net."
Brothers and rivals
Anaheim's Rob Niedermayer and New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer are the first non-teammate brothers to play in the conference finals since Ron (Philadelphia) and Duane (Chicago) Sutter did so in 1989.
Should the Niedermayers meet each other in the Stanley Cup Final, they would be the first non-teammate brothers to do so since Ken Reardon of Montreal and Terry Reardon of Boston in the 1946 Stanley Cup Final.
"Scott, he was into hockey first," Rob said. "I think me, being the younger brother, I just followed along. I think it had a lot to do with our mother. She took a lot of time. She was always there for us. We went and skated on the ponds after school. She took us down to the ice rink at noon hour. I think that was all we really concentrated on growing up, hockey. Small town (Cranbrook, B.C.), that was kind of the only thing to do there."
Scott has twice won a Stanley Cup and even though Rob got to share the Cup with Scott when he brought it home, Rob refused to touch it.
"I guess you don't want to touch it until you get a chance to win it," Rob said.
The brothers are close, although Scott joked, "I leave Rob a message about once every four or five days and then he gets back to me once every couple of months."
Looking at Luc
Wanting to add a veteran to next year's roster, Panthers GM Rick Dudley would be interested in talking with veteran Luc Robitaille, who is being discarded by the Red Wings, after the free-agent period begins July 1.
"Luc Robitaille is a wonderful guy and he would provide a great deal of leadership for our hockey team," Dudley said. "But first of all, I don't know what he costs and secondly, how effective he'd be in our situation.
"But Dave Andreychuk came to the Lightning and was so important to the team that it rejuvenated him. So can that happen again with another guy? Sure, why not? When you're an older player, your stature on a team means everything to you."
Robitaille, 37, who has scored 631 goals in 17 years, is coming off his worst season - 11 goals and 31 points.
Pick and choose
Dudley says he has received some tempting offers for the Panthers' No. 1 pick.
"Teams are coming after us for the first and you know what? If somebody comes hard enough, they might just get it," Dudley said. "We're still leaning toward taking it, but we've had two teams offer us quite good packages for the pick.
"Our theory is this: If we got assets both young and significant, would we entertain it? Sure."
It's been rumored that Boston has offered Sergei Samsonov for the pick, but Dudley says he hasn't spoken with Boston.
Panthers scouting meetings begin Tuesday. The contenders to go No. 1 on June 21 in Nashville are Russian winger Nikolai Zherdev, Czech winger Milan Michalek, Oshawa center Nathan Horton and Peterborough center Eric Staal.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/5833284.htm
